Quest Diagnostics Donates $1 Million to PossAbilities

Quest Diagnostics recently became the exclusive program title sponsor for Loma Linda University PossAbilities, the free, non-profit community outreach program for people with permanent physical disabilities. The sponsorship agreement calls for Quest Diagnostics to contribute $1 million to the PossAbilities program over the next three years, beginning Jan. 1, 2015. "We would like to thank our founding partner, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, for the support they offered us over the last seven years,” noted Pedro Payne, PhD, director of PossAbilities. “We now take our first steps into the future with our new title sponsor, Quest Diagnostics. With this new collaboration we look forward to a fruitful partnership that will last for years." Although the official check presentation ceremony will not take place until January, the sponsorship agreement was announced at the Oct. 8 Road to Rio Sports Luncheon in the Wong Kerlee International Conference Center. At that time, Garry FitzGerald, MD, vice president for business development at Loma Linda University Health Care, announced the sponsorship agreement and presented Patricia V. Murphy, commercial sales director for Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, a bouquet of flowers in appreciation for her organization’s generous support. “The notion of making man whole through sports and competitiveness speaks to me on a very personal level,” Murphy observed. “I believe that the essence of drive and ambition to win comes as a divine gift to all of us. Sometimes that gift can be temporarily lost in pain, sorrow, or personal challenge. “PossAbilities,” Murphy continued, “strives to restore wholeness of body and soul through physical, spiritual, and social means, thus restoring the divine gift of the human condition to fullness through competition and social belonging. It has been a growth experience for me to get to know the PossAbilities team, and I look forward to the opportunity to be a part of this extraordinary organization for years to come.” Cotie Williams, manager of community outreach and patient experience at Loma Linda University Medical Center East Campus and Loma Linda University Heart and Surgical Hospital, said monies from the Quest contribution will be used to fund a variety of PossAbilities activities including the Road to Rio program, the annual triathlon, the celebration dinner, the Redlands Bicycle Classic Para-Cycling Race Series, and the Inland Empire Disabilities Collaborative Expo and Conference. In addition, Williams said the funds will also underwrite the annual grant and scholarship program that awards more than $50,000 per year in adaptive equipment, accessibility projects, sporting activities, and educational scholarships for PossAbilities members. “Within PossAbilities, we do all of our own fundraising,” Williams reports. “Every dollar raised goes directly back to our disabled members. It is with such grateful hearts that we receive this gift from Quest Diagnostics. Our common mission is to make man whole. As partners we are able to continue to create opportunities providing new direction and hope to those we serve.”