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Panda Express helps boy realize wish to meet Michael Phelps

BRAZIL-RIO-ROCINHA-PHELPS

US swimmer Michael Phelps swims with children of the Rocinha shantytown by the pool of the favela’s sport complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on March 11, 2013. AFP PHOTO/CHRISTOPHE SIMON (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

A California boy with a life-threatening medical condition’s Make-A-Wish Foundation wish to meet Michael Phelps will be granted with the help of Panda Express customers, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Jackson, 6, of Tierrasanta, has yet to meet Phelps, but it could happen this summer, according to the report. A sum of $7,000 was raised via 7,000 orders of Surf & Turf in a two-week stretch in San Diego. Panda Express donated $1 from each order.

The corresponding menu item on the restaurant’s website lists one order of Samurai Surf & Turf to have 230 calories. Seven thousand orders equals 1,610,000 calories.

Samurai Surf & Turf features angus top sirloin steak combined with tender, marinated shrimp wok-seared together with sweet red bell pepper, crunchy string beans, crisp diced potatoes and a new zesty Asian sauce.

Under Phelps’ legendary 8,000- to 10,000-calorie per day diet during his career, it would take 179 days for one eater to consume that much steak and shrimp.

In other Phelps news, it appears he’s headed for Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in early July to combine two of his favorite post-swimming activities at Chris Paul’s celebrity poker and golf tournaments.

He’ll then head to the American Century Championship in Tahoe (televised on NBC Sports Network and NBC, July 19-21). Yes, Phelps has been plenty busy on the links in preparation.