Outstanding Achievements

Alexsander "Alex" Colon has been a Janitorial Associate at Quest, Inc. for four years. From the beginning he rapidly advanced his skill set and ability to work well with his peers, "Some people need more help, and I can help by making a good connection with them. My great motivation helps me to motivate them." His co-workers started calling him Hollywood for his fondness of wearing sunglasses. He recently changed the shift he worked to help another crew. Alex is thrilled to receive the Achievement Award, "It has been a long time coming for me. I am happy getting this award. All my hard work and dedication really pays off." Always the giver, Alex added, "If it was up to me, I would give it [the award] to my co-worker who is equally deserving."

Congratulations to Titus Snader – QUEST, Inc. Janitorial Associate, for being our 2022 Embrace the Abilities Achievement Award winner through Unique Source Products and Services. The award was given at the Hershey Lodge Dinner Celebration on the evening of May 9th, 2022. Way to go Titus!!

If you shop at the Giant on Quentin Road in Lebanon there is a good chance that a certain front end associate will greet you with a smile, bag your purchases and help load them into your car and tell you to “have a great day”. That gentleman is Christian Murphy. Christian started out at Musser’s Market as a front end associate. He overcame his initial nervousness to provide store customers with a delightful shopping experience with his pleasant demeanor, courteous service and infectious enthusiasm. Christian takes pride in his work and customers appreciate his “above and beyond” personalized service. As Christian’s skills developed he was given more tasks to perform including on the job training of new associates. When Musser’s was bought out by Giant in 2019 Christian was very nervous about having to apply with Giant to retain a position at the store. Christian was fully supported by his parents, his job coach, his co-workers who considered him a valued member of the team and store customers who have come to appreciate his contributions to their shopping experience. Upon being hired by Giant his co-workers were genuinely thrilled for him. Since working for Giant the management team has commented that “customers love him” and they immediately saw his value as a member of the Giant team. Christian has a co-worker who commented “he has a disability and he puts other to shame” (with his work ethic and positive attitude). Christian’s success has contributed to other individuals with disabilities being given the opportunity to work at Giant. Christian has also received a wage increase with Giant based on his performance. In 2016 Christian was recognized by the Work With Us employment coalition as Employee of the Year for his accomplishments and in 2020 PAR recognized him as the Central Region’s Self-Advocate Employee of the Year.

Christian’s support base includes his adoptive parents who were told “not to expect much” regarding his prospects for skills development and community involvement when they adopted him. Christian’s dad purposefully gave Christian the opportunity to actively participate in the community and Christian responded and flourished when given this opportunity. When Christian is not hard at work at Giant he is an active member of his church and participates with Special Olympics. His Special Olympics bowling team was locally and regionally recognized for their success. Through it all Christian has remained a humble individual who inspires others through kindness and genuine care for others.