Let them eat bread

Times are hard, especially in a big city like Portland. Whether you are homeless, unemployed or just short on cash, you need not fear because now you can go to the Northeast Panera Bread and “pay-as-you-can.”

The third “pay-as-you-can” nonprofit cafe in the nation now stands at 4143 NE Halsey St., and opened its doors on Sunday to hungry customers. The cafe will be run by nonprofit Panera Bread Foundation and renamed “Panera Cares Community Cafe.” The other two nonprofits have been successfully opened in Clayton, Missouri and Dearborn, Mich., which makes the Portland location the first on the west coast.

The new cafe will not have menu prices, but instead suggested donations. The cashiers are equipped for cash and credit cards. A bin in front of the registers allows people to give what they can, and if they cannot pay but still want to donate, they can volunteer an hour of their time and they will receive a meal voucher.

Portland prides itself on being pretty open-minded. With a considerably large homeless population and while the economy is still tough, people seem to need this kind of nonprofit.

Oregon’s unemployment rate was at 10.5 percent last November according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and while that is not at an all-time high, it is still a significantly high percentage.

The Panera Bread Foundation is taking a huge leap of faith for the people of Portland, just as cities had to put their faith in the other two cafes in order to stay financially stable. The foundation says that 60–70 percent of people at the other cafes paid the full price, 15 percent paid higher and the other 15 percent paid lower or nothing.

The cafes pay for their own costs based on the revenue they receive. The nonprofit cafe in Clayton received more revenue in August than it had spent. Excess money is put into training programs for at-risk youth and homeless youth.

In order for this venture to work, the community of the Hollywood District and Portland in general has to buy into the nonprofit cafe. In reality, there is no reason for it to not work; if the same statistics for the other cafes apply to this, then it should be a success.

With the amount of underpaid, low-income, unemployed and homeless people in the Portland metro area, this Panera café will provide a safe environment and good food for people who need it. It is cheaper than fast food, and Panera has fresher and healthier options than fast food locations.

We always hear of Portland’s rising gang activity. The money that goes into the training programs for at-risk youth could be one of the steps toward preventing such gang violence.

Not only will the new nonprofit cafe be a great resource to those suffering from hard economic times, but it could also help to unify the community in a way that would not otherwise happen. The general population tends to stay away from the homeless population; this could be the unifying place for all people of different socioeconomic statuses. Unlike soup kitchens, Panera is open to everyone, not just everyone who needs it.

Panera is doing a great thing by creating these nonprofits; not only are they trying to get more of a handle on the issue of food insecurity, especially in this economy, but they are also trying to help the homeless and at-risk youth populations. In order for this café to succeed, the community has to take part in it. This nonprofit is too important to let it slip through the cracks; Portlanders need to unite and support these wonderful causes. ?