The Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley celebrated the opening of the “Panda Cares Center of Hope” at the James T. Ventress Clubhouse in Newhall on Wednesday afternoon.
Local dignitaries, club members and staff, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station personnel and Panda Express employees joined the celebration.
“The Center of Hope, it really, what it symbolizes is hope and opportunity that the Boys and Girls Club is committed to providing, and it’s only made possible because of incredible partners like the Panda Cares Foundation and Panda Express,” said Matt Nelson, CEO of the SCV Boys & Girls Club.
Nelson said he hopes this new center will be a beacon of hope for the children and provide the resources needed for them to grow and develop.
“It meets the modern means that we have in terms of education and development,” Nelson said. “And so kids, you know, could have all kinds of things going on, whether they’re at home or at school, but if they come here and they know that when they go to Center of Hope at the Boys & Girls Club, that it’s a place where they can get support, mentoring, academic support, enrichment to be their best self.”
The new center will provide homework support Mondays through Thursdays, a new project called Project Learn where club members will be supported in what children are learning at school and out of school, a female-based program called Smart Girls and a male-based program called Passport to Manhood.
Nelson added that being able to open this new center has been a dream of his.
“This has been a personal dream of mine to renovate that space. It’s actually where I started working at the Boys & Girls Club … So here we are in 2025 finally, we have that opportunity and to grow and meet the needs of the changing needs of the community, you know, like we do a lot now a workforce readiness, workforce development, with our teams and leadership development,” Nelson said.
Santa Clarita Mayor Bill Miranda said seeing and hearing the children’s excitement for the new center was great.
“You can hear all the kids, yelling and screaming and being so excited about this event. It’s a very momentous event. You know, it’s the first one here in Santa Crita Valley,” Miranda said. “It’s very important to have the community come together, work together, collaborate together, make great things happen together.”
