Quality Oil Company collects $25,000 to benefit Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma

February 1, 2010

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Quality Oil Company donated $25,000 to the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The money was raised during its 80th anniversary celebration in November.

The anniversary campaign collected $1 donations from customers at each of the company’s Quality Mart, Quality Plus and Shell Station stores throughout North Carolina, the Hampton Inns in Winston-Salem and Cary, the Sleep Inn in Winston-Salem, and Quality Oil’s home office at 1540 Silas Creek Parkway.  Each donation was recognized with a paper die-cut of the Childress Institute logo showing the purchaser’s name and displayed in windows of the Quality Oil stores.

“We are very grateful to Quality Oil for partnering with us and to the many customers who chose to make donations in support of the Childress Institute,” said Richard Childress, president and chief executive officer of Richard Childress Racing and co-founder of the Childress Institute. “We owe a big thank you to Quality Oil. Being in business for 80 years is quite an accomplishment, and it was a privilege to be a part of the anniversary celebration. This was a wonderful opportunity that the company provided to their customers to give back by helping to save the lives of seriously injured children across the country.”

Graham Bennett, president of Quality Oil Company, said, “It was our pleasure to team up with such a strong organization. Our customers are very generous, caring people who partnered with us to support our community and the growth that it is embracing. We were honored to be able to serve through the Childress Institute.”

The Childress Institute was organized in July 2008 at Wake Forest Baptist by Richard Childress and his family. Its mission is to prevent and treat life-threatening injuries to children, and to help kids affected by life-threatening injuries recover and lead normal lives. Approximately 12,000 children under the age of 18 die each year from traumatic injury, making it the No. 1 killer of children in the United States.

 “We sincerely thank Quality Oil and its patrons for this contribution,” said J. Wayne Meredith, M.D., executive director of the Childress Institute. “This will help bring attention to the issue of life-threatening injury, which is by far the leading cause of death among our nation’s children every year. These funds will help advance research, education and prevention that will lead to better approaches to treating injured children and potentially saving lives.”

  • Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (www.wfubmc.edu) is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Brenner Children’s Hospital, Wake Forest University Physicians, and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine and Piedmont Triad Research Park. The system comprises 1,056 acute care and rehabilitation beds and has been ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report since 1993. Wake Forest Baptist also holds the Gold Seal of Approval™ from the Joint Commission, the nation’s esteemed standards-setting and accrediting body for health care quality. Wake Forest Baptist is ranked 32nd in the nation by America’s Top Doctors for the number of its doctors considered best by their peers. The institution ranks in the top third in funding by the National Institutes of Health and fourth in the Southeast in revenues from its licensed intellectual property.
  • The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma (www.childresspediatrictrauma.org) is dedicated to significantly improving survival rates of children nationwide who suffer serious injuries and reducing the lifelong impact of traumatic injuries in children. Richard Childress and his family are providing $5 million to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center to initiate the institute. The Medical Center and the Childress family are working with corporations and individuals to raise awareness and an additional $20 million to establish the institute’s endowment fund. As the national center for championing the care of children with life-threatening injuries, the Childress Institute will: continually raise awareness that serious injuries annually claim the lives of more children than all other causes of death combined; lead research and education efforts to prevent and treat injuries; and identify and help put in place the resources needed to reach more kids faster with the kind of care that makes a difference – in saving their lives and helping them lead a normal life.
  • Richard Childress Racing (www.rcrracing.com) has earned more than 180 victories and 12 NASCAR championships, including six in the Sprint Cup Series with the legendary Dale Earnhardt. RCR was the first organization to win championships in the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. Its 2010 Sprint Cup Series lineup includes Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet), Jeff Burton (No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet) and Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet). John Wes Townley drives the No. 21 Zaxby’s Chevrolet in the 2010 Nationwide Series, Austin Dillon drives the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet in the 2010 Camping World Truck Series and Tim George Jr. drives the No. 31 RCR Development Chevrolet in the 2010 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards. Ty Dillon, Sean Caisse, Ryan Gifford and Stephen Leicht are RCR developmental drivers in both asphalt and dirt track racing.  NASCAR’s 2010 season and Daytona Speedweeks launch Feb. 6 with the Budweiser Shootout, followed by the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14 at 1 p.m. on FOX.
  • Quality Oil Company, LLC, (www.QOCNC.com) celebrating 80 years of excellence, is a locally owned, family business that started in 1929 when the United States was entering the Great Depression. Although Quality Oil began as a Shell Oil Company distributorship, it has grown into a diversified, strong company that operates throughout the Southeast.

Media Relations

Eric Whittington: ewhittin@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-5318

Main Number: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587