WASHINGTON, June 27, 2017 – At a special ceremony to commemorate the opening of Hyundai Motor Company’s new Washington, D.C., office, Hyundai announced a donation of $25,000 to the Capitol Police Memorial Fund. As a member of the Washington community, Hyundai wanted to honor the brave men and women of the United States Capitol Police who protect Congress, including its members, visitors and facilities.
“The Capitol Police officers make sacrifices every day to protect our democracy and this donation is a gesture of our appreciation for their outstanding work,” said Jerry Flannery, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, who presented the donation at Hyundai’s new Washington office. “Their brave and rapid response a few weeks ago prevented a major tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are still recovering.”
“The U.S. Capitol Police keep all of us safe, and we wanted to show our support for the local Washington community where we live and work,” said David Kim, vice president of Hyundai’s Washington, D.C., office. “In conjunction with the opening of our new office, which is right down the street from the Capitol, this is our way of honoring the heroic actions at the recent congressional baseball practice. We thank the Capitol Police for their dedicated service on that day and every day of the year.”
Executives gathered from Hyundai’s global headquarters in Seoul, the U.S. headquarters in Fountain Valley, Calif., and the Washington office to open the doors on Hyundai’s new presence in the Capitol alongside several elected officials and community leaders. The Washington office represents Hyundai at the federal and state levels, and works with government officials and industry partners on transportation and automotive industry policy.
Hyundai’s non-profit organization, Hope on Wheels, also awarded grants totaling $1 million to five children’s hospitals in the Washington, Maryland and Virginia areas for pediatric cancer research during the event. The grant-winning institutions were Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center (Maryland), Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (Virginia), John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center (Maryland), Children’s National Health System (Washington, D.C.), and Children’s Hospital of Richmond – Virginia Commonwealth University (Virginia). These grants are part of Hyundai’s overall commitment to end childhood cancer, bringing the non-profit’s total funding of pediatric cancer research to over $130 million.