Children's Health

Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital receives $25,000 from Hyundai Hope on Wheels to Support Cancer Research

Hyundai Motor America and its dealers as part of the Hyundai Hope on WheelsTM 2010 tour today announced a $25,000 grant to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. The 2010 Hope on Wheels Tour is traveling nationwide to donate more than $2.1 million pediatric to research institutions. Uli Duffner, MD, hematologist/oncologist at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital was named a 2010 Hyundai Scholar, and will use the funds to support bone marrow transplant research at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.

A check was presented as pediatric cancer patients took part in the Hope on Wheels Handprint Ceremony, during which they dipped their hands in finger paint and applied their colorful handprints to a white Hyundai Santa Fe.  The car, which is covered in children’s handprints from all over the country, is the symbol of Hyundai Hope on Wheels.
 
“We are inspired every day by the brave children we meet at our handprint ceremonies,” said Jeff Elhart, Elhart Hyundai in Holland. “When the kids place their handprints on the car, we are honoring their brave battles against cancer, commemorating their triumphs and sharing their hope for the future with other children and their families across the country.”

This year Hyundai Hope on Wheels marks 12 years of commitment to childhood cancer research efforts.  Hyundai and its dealers have donated more than $14 million to children’s hospitals nationwide and collected hundreds of handprints from children fighting childhood cancer.  More information and the complete list of more than 40 stops on the 2010 Hyundai Hope on Wheels Tour is available at hyundaihopeonwheels.org.

“On behalf of Hyundai dealers across the country, Hope on Wheels is honored to continue its support for childhood cancer research in 2010 and recognize the brave children who are battling this disease,” said Oscar Leeser, President of the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Foundation and dealer owner of Hyundai of El Paso in El Paso, Texas.  “We are proud to be able to award research grants to the Hyundai Scholars – they are the pediatric oncologists whose unwavering dedication to research helps to care for children facing cancer and gives them hope for a healthy future.”

Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, a member of Spectrum Health, is a Grand Rapids-based hospital serving children throughout Michigan. A teaching hospital, it includes more than 150 pediatric specialty physicians with specialized training in providing medical and surgical care to children in more than 40 pediatric specialties. Visit devoschildrens.org to learn more or devoschildrens.org/2011 to learn about the new hospital opening in 2011.

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through all 780 dealerships nationwide.

Hyundai Hope on WheelsTM is the united effort of the all 780 Hyundai dealers across the U.S. to raise awareness about childhood cancer and celebrate the lives of children battling the disease.  Hyundai and its dealers have donated more than $14 million to pediatric cancer research and is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.