More than two years ago, when the Panera Bread Foundation

Portland seemed an ideal fit. Its people care about food issues. The city is known for community engagement. Like any population, it has its share of hungry people.

The Hollywood neighborhood in Northeast Portland was especially appealing because of its mix of affluence and need and its proximity to mass transit. It seemed perfect for a nonprofit that looks and feels like any Panera except patrons pay what they can, even if that's nothing.

The way the cafe works is: Hungry poor people pay less than the cost of a meal and offer to volunteer in exchange for soup, a sandwich or a salad. Customers who can afford breakfast or lunch pay for their meal and, if they're able, pay more to subsidize the needy. No questions are asked and everyone is treated equally, with dignity.

The nonprofit first opened in its headquarters city of St. Louis, then in Dearborn, Michigan.

, next door to Trader Joe's, was the third. But six months after opening in 2011, leaders saw things at the Oregon cafe they hadn't seen in Missouri or Michigan.

The Panera Cares Cafe is located in Northeast Portland's Hollywood community, beside Trader Joe's.

students mobbed the cafe daily, ordering multiple meals and not paying for them. Homeless people came for every meal -- every day -- as if the cafe was a soup kitchen. Hollywood neighbors complained of an increase in crime and loitering.

Many problems came down to "a sense of entitlement," said Panera spokeswoman Kate Antonacci. Though the cafes are an experiment, they must become self-sustaining to survive. The money coming into the Portland cafe was so far below meeting costs at one point that the cafe seemed poised to close.

Now, as the foundation celebrates a fifth Panera Cares in Boston, leaders are still learning. Some lessons going forward were learned in Portland.

The cafe has yet to go a month without losing money -- though it's making about 70 percent of its operating cost, up from 60 percent a year ago, said Dave Hardin, who oversees outlets in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Hardin is confident the cafe can one day pay for itself. "It's all about awareness," he said. "It's about word of mouth, about educating the community customer by customer. It's about getting the message out about why we're here."

To do a better job, the staff has changed training methods. The door greeter, the "community ambassador," goes deeper into the nonprofit's mission with every customer. Success stories of out-of-work customers paying for their meals by volunteering now decorate the walls. New signage explains the nonprofit's expectations.

Crime and neighborhood complaints have tapered off, Hardin said. Panera has trained staff to turn away anyone drunk or on drugs, and the cafe works with Portland Police, the Hollywood Neighborhood Association and the Hollywood Boosters when issues arise.

Cafe managers met with the Grant principal and a letter was sent to parents. Some parents brought their students to the restaurant and made them pay, a move that generated a lot of good will with the staff, said cafe manager Georgia Wagner.

Though the nonprofit hasn't given the cafe a deadline to become self-sustaining, the cafe must meet its cost to succeed, leaders said.

Panera Cares now allows students to visit only after school hours.

Panera also educated the homeless about its mission. No one is no longer allowed to come every day, for every meal -- only for a few meals a week.

"We're not a soup kitchen," Hardin said. "We're only one piece of the puzzle."

The nonprofit is helping feed Portland's needy in other ways, too. Panera Cares recently teamed up to provide weekend meals to poor children at Bridger School in Southeast Portland and Humboldt School in North.

And a program to train young men and women who are on the path to joblessness has graduated a few dozen. The graduates have learned customer service skills, hygiene, resume tips, budget management and other life skills.

Wagner, the cafe manager, sees the cafe feed hungry people daily. She also sees customers who are able to pay more than their share drop $20 bills into the donation box for a cup of coffee and a bagel.

It doesn't happen every day, but it happens enough for her to know the cafe serves a purpose. And it taps into many people's desire to help other people. And, given time and awareness, it has taught her the model can work.

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