Panera’s Clam Chowder Soup for the Soul

Cook’s grandmother, the 84 year old Teresa Cook, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. She had a specific request to her grandson: a bowl of clam chowder soup. “This is what she went on and on about, was the bread bowl here, so I tried to get it for her as best I could”, Brandon Cook told local news, WMUR.

^{Brandon Cook and his grandma, Teresa Cook}

So that Tuesday morning, 13/08/2012, Brandon Cook called the Panera Bakery on Amherst Street, Nashua to order a clam chowder soup. But then, not only Panera made the soup that he ordered, they also gave him a box of cookies. "He knew we didn't serve it on Tuesdays, but was there any way we could help him out, and I just said, 'Absolutely, we can do that'", said Sue Fortier, the manager at the Panera Bread to WMUR.

In return, Brandon wrote on Panera’s Facebook wall to thank Sue and her staff for their kindness. Surprisingly, the wall post got almost a million likes. Clearly many people are still craving for heartwarming stories like this one!

His grandma’s wish went viral and Panera Bakery on Amherst Street, Nashua became extremely popular for the good deeds they did. It was an unexpected massive publicity stunt for both parties and again, all thanks to social media.

^{Brandon Cook's Message on Panera Bread's Facebook Page}

The clam chowder was actually the last thing Cook's grandmother ate. "She has not passed away yet, but she's on morphine now and drinking water, so it was the last physical meal that she ate. She had about 10 bites, which at that point was a lot”, said Cook to WMUR.

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