Panda Cares Enhances Academic Success Resources for Kids & Teens Nationwide
Press Release
ATLANTA (April 27, 2023) – Boys & Girls Clubs of America, a leading youth-development organization with more than 5,000 Club locations nationwide, has announced a three-year partnership with the Panda Cares Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Panda Express, who has committed $10.6 million in support for 2023 focused on supporting academic success and positive outcomes for young people. Since 2020, the Foundation has provided more than $20 million in support to enhance academic programming for Boys & Girls Club youth across the country. By the end of 2023 the partners will have opened 70 Panda Cares Centers of Hope nationwide providing positive spaces for youth to learn and grow.
As the official partner of the organization’s academic strategy, Project Learn, Panda Cares Foundation will provide funding for a holistic, evidence-based approach to supporting youth-centered learning in Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. Focusing on five main pillars including homework help and tutoring, high yield learning activities, family and community involvement, motivation and incentives and school partnership, this approach will empower kids and teens to build their character and leadership during their time at the Club.
“Boys & Girls Clubs of America is on a mission to ensure all kids and teens have access to impactful learning experiences and opportunities that enable them to reach their full potential,” said Chrissy Chen, National Director of Youth Development Programs at Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “Thanks to the support from Panda Cares Foundation, our Club professionals will have evidence-based guidance to support academic success programs with a youth-centered learning approach that has a meaningful impact on youth.”
Panda Cares partners with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to create opportunities for kids and teens to learn, lead and thrive, focusing on providing access to high-quality academic success programming in Clubs. This partnership empowers thousands of kids and teens at Boys & Girls Clubs across the country to excel in school and build their character and leadership. This investment will support academic success in Clubs, specifically through Project Learn and Panda Cares Centers of Hope.
“Panda Cares was created with the mission to bring hope to underserved youth in need and help them thrive to reach their fullest potential,” says Dr. Peggy Cherng, co-Founder and co-CEO of Panda Express. “We are honored to support Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the work they do to provide access to quality education and programming that engages and empowers youth. At the Panda Cares Center of Hope, students can learn and play in a comfortable and inclusive environment that’s uniquely designed for them in mind.”
In 2022, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, together with Panda Cares, launched Panda Cares Centers of Hope in local Clubs across the country. The first Center of Hope opened in May 2022 at CC’s Little Village Boys & Girls Club in Chicago, followed by another 34 Centers in the last year. Each Panda Cares Center of Hope is designed to provide Club members with safe spaces to be themselves, including things like a new library of books, computers, comfortable lounge pods, and specially designed spaces to support kids and teens in learning, engaging and growing. Panda Cares and Boys & Girls Clubs of America have a shared goal of opening 35 Centers of Hope a year for 10 years – giving 350 Clubs and over 20,000 youth access to these new spaces to help foster their academic success and set them up for a successful future.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America is proud to partner with the Panda Cares Foundation to bring Hope to youth across the country. To learn more about this partnership visit Panda Cares.
About Boys & Girls Clubs of America
For over 160 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA.org) has provided a safe place for kids and teens to learn and grow. Clubs offer caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Boys & Girls Clubs programming promotes academic success, good character and leadership, and healthy lifestyles. More than 5,000 Clubs serve over 3.6 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more about Boys & Girls Clubs of America on Facebook and Twitter.
About Panda Express®
On a mission to inspire better lives, Panda Express®, the largest Asian dining concept in the US. Family-owned and operated since 1983 by Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Andrew and Peggy Cherng, Panda Express is best known as a trailblazer for creating a wide variety of industry-first recipes, including its best seller the Original Orange Chicken® and award-winning Honey Walnut Shrimp™ , which have defined the category of authentic American Chinese cuisine. Each dish at Panda Express is thoughtfully crafted with quality ingredients and inspired by bold Chinese flavors and culinary principles. The restaurant brand has more than 2,500 locations and has introduced American Chinese cuisine to 12 international countries. Powered by a global family of associates, Panda Cares®, Panda’s philanthropic arm, has raised more than $329 million and has dedicated countless volunteer hours in bettering the health and education for over 15 million youth, as well as supporting communities in need since 1999. In 2021, Panda Express established the Panda CommUnity Fund — a five-year, $10 million community investment and response program that supports immediate and sustainable solutions from national and local organizations to uplift diverse groups, including people of color and other marginalized communities. For more information about Panda, visit pandaexpress.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Media Contacts
Eliza Lynch
Director of Public Relations
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
203-522-7010
elynch@bgca.org
