COBS Bread is raising some dough throughout the month of March and will culminate the effort with its annual Doughnation Day on April 5, 2025. Funds raised will support the nonprofit Swim Across America, which raises funds for crucial cancer research, and its three swims in the greater New York City area. COBS Bread’s five bakeries—in Stamford and Westport, Connecticut, and in Eastchester, Merrick and Oceanside, New York—will participate in the program.
Doughnation Day is a COBS Bread company-wide tradition dedicated to giving back to local charities. COBS Bread will donate $2 from every 6-pack of hot cross buns sold at the designated stores on April 5th to support cancer research through Swim Across America. Customers are also encouraged to donate additional funds starting March 8. Leading up to Doughnation Day, Swim Across America volunteers and representatives will be visiting the participating COBS Bread locations on March 8, March 22, and April 5, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., to share information about the swims, the cancer research each swim supports, and encourage community participation and donations.
Participating stores include:
- COBS Bread Stamford (1057 High Ridge Rd, Stamford, Connecticut 06905)
- COBS Bread Westport (374 Post Rd E, Westport, Connecticut 06880)
- COBS Bread Eastchester (777 White Plains Rd, Scarsdale, New York 10583)
- COBS Bread Merrick (2013 Merrick Rd, Merrick, New York 11566)
- COBS Bread Oceanside (3187 Long Beach Rd, Oceanside, New York 11572)
“Our bakeries in Connecticut, including our first-ever U.S. store in Stamford, Connecticut, have long supported the Swim Across America - Fairfield County swim,” said Karen Frost-Spokes, vice president of COBS Bread USA. “When we learned that there were two other Swim Across America events in the backyards of our new bakeries in the New York area, it made perfect sense to expand our support and dedicate this year’s ‘Doughnation Day’ to all three Swim Across America events in the New York City area.”
Founded in 1987, Swim Across America has raised more than $100 million to fight cancer. In its 38 years of making waves, thousands of swimmers and Olympians have swum the circumference of the earth three times uniting a movement to fight cancer that has created a groundswell of support spanning all generations. Today, more than 24 communities across the U.S. hold charity swims each year, which support innovative cancer research, detection and patient programs. Swim Across America’s grants have helped support the research and clinical trials for FDA approved immunotherapy medicines: Keytruda, Opdivo, Yervoy, and Tecentriq. Swim Across America is also a grant funder of the successful clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering that was published in The New England Journal of Medicine and showed a 100 percent success rate in treating patients in a phase 2 clinical trial for advanced rectal cancer with dostarlimab, an immunotherapy treatment produced by GlaxoSmithKline. Swim Across America awards grant to more than 60 projects each year and there are ten named Swim Across America Labs at major institutions.
“We are incredibly grateful to be selected as the beneficiary of COBS Bread’s Doughnation Day,” noted Nancy Carr, Swim Across America - Fairfield County event director. “COBS Bread has been extremely generous to our swim for many years and we are thrilled to expand this relationship with our other swims in New York in Westchester County and on Long Island. This generosity will help us continue funding groundbreaking cancer research and clinical trials, and we look forward to engaging with the COBS Bread customers and the community even more through this initiative.”
Funds raised locally stay local. The Swim Across America - Fairfield County open water swim, held on June 21 in Stamford, Connecticut, specifically supports Stamford-based Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy. Swim Across America - Long Island Sound (Westchester) is held on July 26 in Larchmont, New York, and supports Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Columbia University Cancer Center, Cancer Support Team and Weill Cornell Medicine. The Swim Across America - Nassau/Suffolk Long Island open water swim on August 2 in Glen Cove, New York, supports cancer research with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Feinstein Institute of Northwell Health, the University of Texas MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital (The Stacey Leondis Fellowship), and SHARE Cancer Support. To learn more about Swim Across America or to register to swim, volunteer, or donate, visit swimacrossamerica.org.
About COBS Bread
At every one of COBS Bread’s 160+ locations across Canada and the US, are hand-crafted bread and flavorful treats, baked fresh every day. Offering traditional sandwich breads, artisanal loaves, sweet treats and savory indulgences,, COBS Bread focuses on bringing high quality products that are baked from scratch daily into their customer’s homes. All products are sold on the same day it is baked and leftover products are donated to charitable organizations in the community. For more information about COBS Bread, please visit cobsbread.com/us.
About Swim Across America
Swim Across America, Inc. (SAA) raises money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment through swimming-related events. With the help of volunteers, and Olympians, Swim Across America is an innovator and leader in giving hope to those fighting cancer. To learn more visit swimacrossamerica.org, Facebook @SwimAcrossAmerica, and Instagram @SAASwim.