Panda Express has made a name for itself serving fast-casual, American-style Chinese food (Chowhound even ranked many of the chain’s menu items). It was started by Andrew and Peggy Cherng, a husband-wife duo who launched the first family-run Chinese restaurant in 1983. Since then, Panda Express has continued to value both family and community, and that’s why whenever you hear the bell ring in a restaurant, it means someone has donated to the chain’s charity organization, Panda Cares. At checkout, when paying for their chow mein and honey walnut shrimp orders (which really is our favorite Panda Express dish), customers are asked whether they’d like to make a donation.
The chain started in California, but it has expanded to all over the United States since, with more than 2,300 locations at the time of writing. In 2011, the chain went international and opened its first restaurant in Mexico; the expansion has helped Panda Express increase its charitable donations thanks to so many customers.
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What Is Panda Cares?
Person about to ring a bell – Boy_anupong/Getty Images
Panda Cares was established in 1999, 16 years after Panda Express first launched. The organization primarily provides food and funding to areas in need, as well as volunteers with children. The charity also sends volunteers to disaster zones to help with relief efforts, and has collectively raised millions of dollars in aid support for disasters like Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Harvey, and the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2005.
Back in 2007, Panda Cares established itself as a charity that supports America’s youth when it set up a partnership with Children’s Miracle Network. The chain started its in-store donation program in 2010, which is how customers are able to donate today while paying for their order. The bell you hear after a donation has been made is also emblematic of the one that patients at Children’s Miracle Network’s hospitals, such as Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, ring to commemorate finishing their chemotherapy treatments.
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