In honor of National Hospital Week (May 10-16), American Chinese trailblazer Panda Express has created an appreciation discount program for hospital staff and first responders to show its deep appreciation and gratitude to these everyday heroes during this global health crisis. Starting on May 11, hospital staff and first responders can enjoy 10 percent off on purchases made in-store at participating Panda Express and Panda Inn locations all year long, by showing their employment badge at checkout. This appreciation discount is one of many initiatives that Panda has implemented as part of their ongoing commitment to protecting, inspiring and bettering the communities they serve.
Since March, the company’s philanthropic arm Panda Cares and co-founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng have donated nearly $9 million to support various COVID-19 relief efforts, including partnering with Feeding America as well as providing hot meals and personal protective equipment (PPE) to healthcare workers. More than 4 million N95, KN95 and surgical masks have been sourced and allocated to hospitals in 13 cities and counting, with a commitment to donate 50,000 meals to care for the healthcare community by June. Panda will continue to fundraiser for its COVID-19 Community Care Fund with a new focus on the race to find a cure, supporting a team of renowned scientists that are developing a treatment for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This initiative is led by Dr. David Ho, a famed virologist who pioneered the HIV/AIDS treatment in the 1990s.
“In a time when connection seems difficult to grasp, we hope to bring comfort and hope by giving back and letting our communities know that they are not alone,” says Dr. Peggy Cherng, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Panda Restaurant Group. “The appreciation discount program for hospital workers and first responders is a small token of our appreciation for all that they do for us. We will continue to support hospitals with PPE and food donations. Our commitment to caring for our frontline caregivers extends beyond Hospital Week—we will do everything in our ability, however big or small, to take care of our heroes.”
As a result of the restaurant brand’s philanthropic impact throughout the pandemic and the Cherngs’ long-time advocacy of the healthcare space, Panda Express has been recently chosen as the exclusive lunch and dinner partner of MED 4 OUR WORLD, an organization that focuses on providing medical care to underserved communities and has since pivoted during COVID-19 to providing free meals to hospitals nationwide. To kick off this partnership, Panda sponsored MED 4 OUR WORLD’s National Nurses Day (May 6) celebration with 450 hot meals to the staff at Palomar Health Foundation locations in San Diego, California.
Since March 2020, all Panda Cares donations are allocated to Panda’s COVID-19 Community Care Fund to donate PPE to hospitals in need, so doctors and nurses are best equipped to care for their patients.
