Change Kids’ Health, Change the Future During Lunar New Year at Panda Express
This Friday, February 12, 2021, marks the beginning of Lunar New Year and the Year of the Ox in the Chinese zodiac. Lunar New Year is one of the world’s biggest festivals centered around food, family and togetherness.
To bring to life the spirit of Lunar New Year and invite those who may be unfamiliar, Panda created a 3-minute short film – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghngt7DuCDw&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=PandaExpressTV that tells the story of a young man discovering the meaning of the holiday in his own way. The short film depicts many Lunar New Year traditions, including the exchange of lucky red envelopes, or “hóng bāo” which is typically gifted on the first day of Lunar New Year. With festivities looking a bit different than years before, Panda has created a unique digital red envelope experience, allowing guests to share good fortunes with their loved ones from near or far. Through Feb. 28, guests can visit PandaLNY.com and create personalized digital red envelopes with special messages and stickers.
Since 2007, Panda Express has been bringing good fortune to millions of kids treated at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals by raising donations year-round. Funds donated stay local and impact patients and families in your community. Additionally, Panda has opened numerous Panda Cares Centers of Hope, which are hospital spaces designed to provide a safe and comforting place where kids can be kids again.
We want to join alongside the associates and guests celebrating this Lunar New Year and take a moment to recognize the immense impact made on Duke Children’s in 2020. More than $61,000 was raised to help in areas like hospital programs, family centered patient care and cutting edge research. Far reaching and life changing research.
Thirty years ago Duke Children’s Dr. Thomas Kinney led efforts to implement both a statewide and a national newborn screening program for sickle cell disease. This legacy lives on in the many lives impacted by this important early screening.
Sosa knows firsthand the impact of his research and advocacy on behalf of all children born with sickle cell trait. Her sickle cell disease was detected before birth, and she became the first pediatric patient in the world, at age 13, to undergo a bone marrow transplant for sickle cell. Sosa is now a senior at UNC Chapel Hill, advocates for the bone marrow donor registry, and hopes to pursue a career in medicine to help others enjoy a healthy, active lifestyle like she is able to enjoy now. One of her warm memories of the special care she received at Duke was the cake her Duke care team presented her to celebrate her 13th birthday. A photo of that occasion holds a place of honor on her refrigerator seven years later.
To bring good fortune to your family this Lunar New Year, visit your nearest Panda Express location to pick up a family meal and try the holiday classic, Firecracker Chicken Breast, back for a limited time only. The dish features all-white, raised without antibiotics chicken breast, fresh bell peppers, onions, green beans and whole dried chilis all wok-tossed in a savory black bean sauce. We are grateful for the ongoing partnership with Panda and the many ways they address the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual needs of children, bringing them courage and hope to heal and thrive. #PandaCares
In 2020, Panda Express associates and guests donated more than $21 million to 131 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, bringing the total to more than $100M over the lifetime of this partnership.