ODESSA, Texas —
After a donation of $770,000 from Panda Express’s Panda Cares Foundation and year of work, the Panda Cares Center of Hope finally opened today in the Pediatric unit at Medical Center Hospital.
“So, this unit has the ability to have families and kids come in here and play during their stay here at Medical Center Hospital. So, they can come in, read books, play games, play on our video games, [and] color. We're adding sensory panel walls to ensure we meet the needs of our other kiddos. But it's really a space for them to come and just kind of relax,” said Samantha Serrano, Children's Miracle Network program manager for the Medical Center Health System Foundation.
The donation to the hospital goes towards more than just the Center of Hope, but Panda Express says projects like it are just part of the culture that the company tries to instill in their workers.
“Our core at Panda Express, our core value is giving and our founders many years ago said for us to be in business we have to make a difference in the communities we serve and to be part of an organization that we get to do that is just phenomenal,” said Anthony Jara, area supervisor for Panda Express.
Serrano says that MCH already tries to provide a fun and inviting environment for children staying with them, so she feels the Center of Hope will better help them think differently of hospitals.
“I think what brings so much more to the Panda Cares Center of Hope changes that idea that hospitals are scary and overwhelming. The Panda Care Center of Hope allows kids to change their idea of what hospitals are. Hospitals are a place of healing, and that's what this room is. It's emotional, spiritual, physical, mental and it is all those things,” Serrano continued.