Hyundai‘s nonprofit to surpass $57 million in total donations to support childhood cancer research by year-end 2012; Korean Actor Byung-hun Lee will join as a special guest
LOS ANGELES – June 22, 2012 –The Hyundai Hope On Wheels® and Los Angeles-area Hyundai dealers will today award Children’s Hospital Los Angeles with a $75,000 Hyundai Scholar Grant to Dr. Weili Sun for her work in pediatric cancer research. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is one of 42 recipients of Hope On Wheels’ 2012 Hyundai Scholar Grant, which supports principal investigators, known as Hyundai Scholars, who are pursuing research to improve the lives of children battling pediatric cancer.
Over the course of 2012, Hope On Wheels will donate $12 million to children’s hospitals nationwide for pediatric cancer research through its Hyundai Scholar Grant and Hyundai Hope Grant programs. By year-end 2012, Hope On Wheels plans to surpass $57 million in total donations to pediatric cancer research since its inception in 1998. Their partnership with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has lasted since 2004 where the hospital has received $461,000 in total funding from Hope On Wheels.
“The generous support from Hyundai will provide critical funds to jump start my clinical research project,” said Dr. Weili Sun, 2012 Hyundai Scholar, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “It will allow me to better understand how innovative epigenetic therapy can be used to treat children with acute myeloid leukemia.”
The $75,000 Hyundai Scholar Grant to Dr. Sun will be officially presented during a Hope On Wheels handprint ceremony at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on Friday, June 22 at 10:00 a.m., where colorful handprints will be collected from Los Angeles-area children to commemorate their brave battles with cancer. Every handprint ceremony celebrates the courageous lives of the children faced with cancer and brings Hope On Wheels’ community of supporters together.
Korean actor Byung-hun Lee will also be in attendance as a special guest. The star, who made his American movie debut as Storm Shadow in the 2009 motion picture GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, will be amongst the first Korean actors to leave his hand and foot prints in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. The ceremony, where he will be joined with fellow actor Ahn Sung-ki, will occur on June 23.
Hope On Wheels primarily provides funds to nonprofit children’s hospitals across the U.S. for pediatric cancer research, and strives to build public awareness about the importance of this cause. The program is funded by Hyundai and its U.S. dealers. With every new vehicle sold in the U.S., Hyundai customers join Hyundai and its dealers in funding important life-saving research.
During National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September, Hope On Wheels will launch its third annual campaign to raise awareness about pediatric cancer and the need to fund critical research to find a cure. As part of its Hyundai Hope Grant program, Hope On Wheels will award 36 grants of $250,000 each to children’s hospitals across the country. Recipients of these grants will be announced in September.
“We see Hope On Wheels as a critical part of our mission at Hyundai,” said Mickey Pong, Vice Chairman of the Hope On Wheels board and owner of North County Hyundai in Carlsbad, Calif. “Pediatric cancer takes far too many young lives and impacts far too many families. We are proud to be involved in this effort to fund research to end this disease. We congratulate each doctor and institution receiving our grants, and commend them for the important work they are doing.”
For more information about Hyundai Hope On Wheels, please visit www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org.