Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Panda Cares Foundation Open Dynamic Learning Centers for California Youth

News

Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Panda Cares Foundation Open Dynamic Learning Centers for California Youth
News

News

Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Panda Cares Foundation Open Dynamic Learning Centers for California Youth

2024-08-14 03:01 Last Updated At:03:10

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 13, 2024--

As conversations around student achievement and chronic absenteeism continue across the country, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Panda Cares Foundation are expanding efforts to bring safe and inspiring learning spaces to kids and teens across California. By the end of the year, 13 Boys & Girls Clubs across the state will be granted a Center of Hope, one of which will be the 100 th Center nationwide – located at Boys & Girls Club of Estrada Courts – marking a major milestone for the partnership. These 13 will add to the 19 spaces that have already opened for California youth.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813939604/en/

Intentionally designed to provide young people with the resources and support they need to develop and improve their academic skills while out of school, Panda Cares Centers of Hope are created within Boys & Girls Clubs to foster high yield learning and enrichment that encourages character building, brings more joy to academics and ultimately increases access to opportunities beyond high school. This joint initiative has already supported over 8,000 kids across California and will expand the learning experiences of nearly 4,000 more by the end of the year, totaling 12,000 collectively.

According to 2023 data gathered by EdSource, just 43% of California students were reading at grade level by third grade, with even fewer Black and Latino students meeting that standard . To achieve the Center’s goals to support youth academics, each Center of Hope located inside Boys & Girls Clubs engages in Project Learn - an evidence-informed, holistic strategy Boys & Girls Clubs of America has developed to support youth-centered learning. The strategy reinforces and enhances what young people learn during the school day through things like homework help, intentional learning activities and access to tools necessary to expand capabilities, while creating experiences that invite them to fall in love with their academic journey.

Since 2020, Panda Cares has funded more than $30M to provide nearly 2,000 Boys & Girls Clubs with grants to support academic success programming and the Project Learn strategy.

“Ensuring young people are equipped to succeed academically is one of the key ways Boys & Girls Clubs support youth in realizing their full potential,” said Jim Clark, President & CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “Each time one of our Clubs opens a Panda Cares Center of Hope, it creates new opportunities for young people to discover the fun and enjoyment in learning, while also benefiting from a relationship-centered program model that is proving to support strong academic outcomes.”

With a $45,000 grant from Panda Cares, each Center of Hope comes to life through a room refresh, as well as the adoption or enhancement of policies, programs and professional development to ensure the greatest success for young people.

California Club sites with a Panda Cares Center of Hope include:

In honor of each Grand Opening, Boys & Girls Club staff members organize a ribbon cutting ceremony to introduce the academic space to the community. The celebration also includes Panda Express volunteers, food donations and fun giveaways for kids, parents and local community members.

“We are proud to expand our reach across our home state California with Boys & Girls Clubs of America!” said Monte Baier, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Panda Restaurant Group. “We are passionate about the communities we serve, both at our restaurants and the residents living around them. This expansion continues to demonstrate our commitment to providing meaningful academic resources, making tangible impact on the future leaders of our nation. And as a Club alumnus myself, it is my honor to be a part of this effort.”

This year, Panda Cares is also proud to establish the Panda Cares Scholarship Program with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, providing vital annual funding to 200 junior and senior Club members in support of their continued education and pursuit of a great future after they leave high school. The 2024 total commitment from Panda Cares of more than $11.6M is to support the 200 scholarships, 42 Centers of Hope, 700 Project Learn grants, and enhancing academic programming for Boys & Girls Club youth across the country.

To learn more about the partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Panda Express, visit www.bgca.com.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 160 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America ( BGCA.org ) has provided a safe place for kids and teens to learn and grow. Clubs offer caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Boys & Girls Clubs programming promotes academic success, good character and leadership, and healthy lifestyles. Over 5,400 Clubs serve more than 3 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. The national headquarters is located in Atlanta. Learn more about Boys & Girls Clubs of America on Facebook and X.

About Panda Express®

On a mission to inspire better lives, Panda Express® is the largest Asian dining concept in the US. Family-owned and operated since 1983 by Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Andrew and Peggy Cherng, Panda Express is best known as a trailblazer for creating a wide variety of industry-first recipes, including its best seller the Original Orange Chicken® and award-winning Honey Walnut Shrimp, which have defined the category of authentic American Chinese cuisine. Each dish at Panda Express is thoughtfully crafted with quality ingredients and inspired by bold Chinese flavors and culinary principles. The restaurant brand has more than 2,500 locations and has introduced American Chinese cuisine to 11 international countries. Powered by a global family of associates, Panda Cares®, Panda's philanthropic arm, has raised more than $375 million and has dedicated countless volunteer hours in bettering the health and education for over 16 million youth, as well as supporting communities in need since 1999. In 2021, Panda Express established the Panda Community Fund — a five-year, $10 million community investment and response program that supports immediate and sustainable solutions from national and local organizations to uplift diverse groups, including people of color and other marginalized communities. For more information about Panda, visit pandaexpress.com, or find us on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Ana celebrate the opening of their Panda Cares Center of Hope - an initiative bringing inspiring learning spaces to youth across California and beyond. (Photo: Business Wire)

Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Ana celebrate the opening of their Panda Cares Center of Hope - an initiative bringing inspiring learning spaces to youth across California and beyond. (Photo: Business Wire)

ROME (AP) — Human rights groups voiced outrage Wednesday after Italy released a Libyan warlord on a technicality, after he was arrested on a warrant from the International Criminal Court accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Hague-based court, for its part, issued a more diplomatic response but its anger appeared evident. In a stern statement late Wednesday, the ICC reminded Italy that it is obliged to “cooperate fully” with its prosecutions and said it was still awaiting information about what exactly Rome had done.

The reaction came after the Italian government on Tuesday released and sent back home Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri, who heads the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, a notorious network of detention centers run by the government-backed Special Defense Force.

Al-Masri had been arrested Sunday in Turin, where he reportedly had attended the Juventus-Milan soccer match the night before. The ICC warrant, dated the day before, accused al-Masri of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Mitiga prison in Libya starting in 2015 that are punishable with life in prison.

The ICC said he was accused of murder, torture, rape and sexual violence. It said the warrant was transmitted to member states on Saturday, including Italy, and that the court had also provided real-time information that he had entered Europe.

The court said it had reminded Italy at the time to contact it “without delay” if it ran into any problems cooperating with the warrant.

But Rome’s court of appeals ordered al-Masri freed Tuesday, and he was sent back to Libya aboard an aircraft of the Italian secret services, because of what the appeals court said was a procedural error in his arrest. The ruling said Justice Minister Carlo Nordio should have been informed ahead of time, since the justice ministry handles all relations with the ICC.

The ICC said it had not been given prior notice of the Rome court's decision, as required, and “is seeking, and is yet to obtain, verification from the authorities on the steps reportedly taken.”

Al-Masri returned to Tripoli late Tuesday, received at the Mitiga airport by supporters who celebrated his release, according to local media. Footage circulated online showed dozens of young men chanting and carrying what appeared to be al-Masri on their shoulders.

“This is a stunning blow to victims, survivors and international justice and a missed opportunity to break the cycle of impunity in Libya,” said Amnesty International’s Esther Major, deputy director of research for Europe.

Nordio appeared in the Senate on Wednesday for a previously-scheduled briefing, and was grilled by outraged opposition lawmakers who demanded clarity about what happened. Former Premier Matteo Renzi accused the right-wing government of hypocrisy given its stated crackdown on human traffickers.

“But when a trafficker whom the International Criminal Court tells us is a dangerous criminal lands on your table, it’s not like you chase him down, you brought him home to Libya with a plane of the Italian secret services,” said Renzi of the Italia Viva party. “Either you’ve gone crazy or this is the image of a hypocritical, indecent government.”

The Democratic Party demanded Premier Giorgia Meloni respond specifically to parliament about the case, saying it raised “grave questions” given the known abuses in Libyan prisons for which al-Masri is accused. Nordio didn't respond.

Italy has close ties to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, on whom it relies to patrol its coasts and prevent waves of migrants from leaving. Any trial in The Hague of al-Masri could bring unwanted attention to Italy’s migration policies and its support of the Libyan coast guard, which it has financed to prevent migrants from leaving.

Human rights groups have documented gross abuses in the Libyan detention facilities where migrants are kept, and have accused Italy of being complicit in their mistreatment.

Two humanitarian groups, Mediterranea Saving Humans and Refugees in Libya, which have documented abuses committed against migrants in Libyan detention facilities, said they were incredulous that Italy let al-Masri go.

David Yambio, a 27-year-old from South Sudan who said he was abused by al-Masri while he was detained at the Mitiga prison in 2019-2020, said he felt betrayed by Italy. Yambio, who eventually escaped from the prison and arrived in Italy on a smuggler’s boat in 2022, said he had a “fleeting feeling of justice” when he heard that al-Masri had been arrested in Turin.

“Those who waited long before me, the Libyans who are victims of his criminal network, his war crimes, have been wanting for this day to come,” said Yambio, who received asylum and now lives in Modena and runs his Refugees in Libya advocacy group. “But when it came, it was immediately extinguished hours before it could even truly be felt in our hearts.”

But Tarik Lamloum, a Libyan activist working with the Belaady Organization for Human Rights which focuses on migrants in Libya, said Italy’s release of al-Masri was expected. He said his release shows the power of militias who control the flow of migrants to Europe through Libya’s shores.

“Tripoli militias are able to pressure (Italy) because they control the migrants file,” he told The Associated Press.

Militias in western Libya are part of the official state forces tasked with intercepting migrants at sea, including in the EU-trained coast guard. They also run state detention centers, where abuses of migrants are common.

As a result, militias — some of them led by warlords the U.N. has sanctioned for abuses — benefit from millions in funds the European Union gives to Libya to stop the migrant flow to Europe.

The European Commission spokesman reaffirmed all EU members had pledged to cooperate with the court.

“We respect the court’s impartiality and we are fully attached to international criminal justice to combat impunity," said EU commission spokesman Anouar El Anouni. In a 2023 summit, the EU leaders committed “to cooperate fully with the court, including rapid execution of any pending arrests,” he added.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Paolo Santalucia in Rome and Molly Quell in The Hague contributed.

FILE - View of the ICC, the International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

FILE - View of the ICC, the International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi makes his remarks during Justice Minister Carlo Nordio's appearance at the Senate for the report on the justice administration, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi makes his remarks during Justice Minister Carlo Nordio's appearance at the Senate for the report on the justice administration, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi makes his remarks during Justice Minister Carlo Nordio's appearance at the Senate for the report on the justice administration, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi makes his remarks during Justice Minister Carlo Nordio's appearance at the Senate for the report on the justice administration, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio addresses the Senate during the report on the justice administration, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio addresses the Senate during the report on the justice administration, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio puts his hand to his head during the presentation of the report on the justice administration, at the Senate, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio puts his hand to his head during the presentation of the report on the justice administration, at the Senate, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio addresses the Senate during the report on the justice administration, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio addresses the Senate during the report on the justice administration, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)

Recommended Articles
Hot · Posts