Google Sheets Leading Zeros Formula

I have a column of values currently stored as text, and I simply need a one-cell formula that places two zeros at the front of every entry while keeping the full result visible in the sheet (no hidden formatting tricks or value loss).

The original strings may vary in length, so the solution has to work regardless of how many characters follow the added “00”. A short explanation of how the formula works is welcome, but the key deliverable is the final, copy-ready Google Sheets formula I can drop into the next column and drag down.
Provide formula for future use