- April 24, 2024
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Visit Panera Bread, in The Trails, Friday Aug. 30, and a portion of your order's proceeds will be donated to the daughter of a former employee who died of cancer Saturday.
BY WAYNE GRANT | STAFF WRITER
Those looking for a place to eat Friday, Aug. 30, can help the family of a former resident by choosing Panera Bread, 250 N. Nova Road. The restaurant will donate 10% of all sales that day to the 4-year-old daughter of former employee Josie Dorcsis, who died of cancer last weekend.
Dorcsis, 40, worked at Panera Bread from 2007 to 2010. She was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago and had a double mastectomy. The cancer later spread to lymph nodes surrounding her lungs, her brain and bones. Recently, according to Bobby Rhoads, father of her daughter, it was also found in her liver.
She was hospitalized and receiving radiation treatments near Washington D.C., until succumbing to the disease Saturday, Aug. 24.
“We still care about them,” Panera Bread Spokeswoman Dana Trabulsy said of former company employees. “We heard about her and wanted to help.”
Customers can make donations at the restaurant on the day of the event and there will be raffles for tickets to Kennedy Space Center, Panera gift cards and Runaway Country, a three-day music festival in Melbourne, Trabulsy said.
Rhoads describes Dorcsis as the type of person who lit up a room.
“She’s a beautiful girl,” he said. “Always smiling. Always full of the life.”
Employees of Panera also remember Dorcsis fondly.
Dawn Crooks, director of operations, called her a “wow” person.
“She was always fun and bubbly, always smiling,” she said.
General Manager Chelsea Gross said, “Josie made work fun and exciting,” calling her a true friend.
“She will always be the most memorable and missed coworker I will ever have,” she said.
*This story was updated 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27.
