Panda Restaurant Group, parent company of Panda Express and the nation’s leader in Asian quick-service restaurants, raised more than $813,000 at the 14th annual Panda Cares Charity Golf Invitational held September 13.
The event benefitted Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, City of Hope, “The Leader in Me” Program, Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, and the Panda Charitable Foundation.
Since the Panda Cares Charity Golf Invitational began in 1999, the event has raised more than $5.4 million for nonprofit organizations.
“The event was an overwhelming success, and through the help of our generous sponsors and business partners, a significant amount of money was raised for very worthy charitable causes,” says Peggy Cherng, co-chairman of Panda Restaurant Group. “Panda Cares strives to promote a spirit of giving, and the significant funds raised this year are a testament that these needs are being heard and answered.”
More than 300 players participated in this year’s tournament, which was held at Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms Resort in the City of Industry, California.
The cost of the event was underwritten by Andrew and Peggy Cherng, cofounders of Panda Restaurant Group.
Panda Restaurant Group launched Panda Cares in 1999 as a company-wide community involvement initiative that provides food, funding, and volunteer services to children’s organizations, disaster relief, and other worthy causes.
This year, the Panda Cares Charity Golf Invitational supported the following nonprofit organizations:
- Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: The hospital is dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of children and adolescents by integrating medical care, preventive services, medical education, and research in an atmosphere of love, compassion and respect.
- Methodist Hospital: Based in Arcadia, California, the hospital provides healing services while caring for the patient as a whole person with emotional and spiritual dimensions, as well as physical needs.
- City of Hope: An innovative biomedical research, treatment, and educational institution, City of Hope is dedicated to the prevention and cure of cancer and other life-threatening diseases, guided by a compassionate patient-centered philosophy and supported by a national foundation of humanitarian philanthropy.
- “The Leader in Me” Program: A school program that integrates timeless leadership principles with practical character and life skills relevant to today’s challenges. By building self-confidence, interpersonal skills, elevating student achievement, and reducing school-wide discipline problems, this program helps children to become leaders in their field of interest.