Nationwide Children's Hospital Receives $50,000 from Hyundai Hope On Wheels Program to Fund Pediatric Cancer Research

Hyundai Motor America and its dealerships will present Nationwide Childrens Hospital with a check for $50,000 to aid the hospitals pediatric cancer research efforts today in an event at 10 a.m. at Nationwide Children's.

Hyundais nationwide 2007 Hope On Wheels tour will visit 30 cities this fall, with donations nearing $1.5 million.  Hope On Wheels is the united effort of more than 750 Hyundai dealers to raise awareness for kids battling pediatric cancer. 
Today, Nationwide Childrens will host a symbolic handprint ceremony that celebrates the childrens lives and treatment milestones by capturing their colorful handprints on a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe.

Since the inception of Hope On Wheels in 2004, the tour has visited more than 70 hospitals nationwide and collected more than 300 handprints at handprint ceremonies.  Hyundai and its dealers have contributed more than $8 million dollars to research institutions across the country to date.  In 2007, Hyundai expects to reach $10 million in total contributions.

We are excited to receive this donation and appreciate Hyundais continued commitment to pediatric cancer research, said Jon Fitzgerald, President of Nationwide Childrens Hospital Foundation. These funds will play a vital role in the success of our research in the Center for Childhood Cancer at The Research Institute at Nationwide Childrens Hospital as we battle to eradicate childhood cancer.

On behalf of Columbus area Hyundai dealers, we are proud to make this donation to an organization that has clearly shown leadership and dedication to the fight against pediatric cancer, said Tim Tweed of Hatfield Hyundai. We hope that this program not only raises funds for these deserving institutions, but also raises awareness on a national scale so that other organizations are inspired to make a pledge against pediatric cancer.

The complete list of 2007 Hope On Wheels tour stops, including benefiting hospitals will be posted on www.hopeonwheels.com.

NATIONWIDE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL
Ranked in the top 12 on U.S. News & World Reports 2007 list of Americas Best Childrens Hospitals, Nationwide Childrens Hospital is one of the nations largest pediatric healthcare networks providing wellness, preventive, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitative care for infants, children, adolescents and adult patients with congenital disease. A medical staff of nearly 900 and a hospital staff of 6,000 provide state-of-the-art pediatric care for more than 700,000 patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Childrens Hospital physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital is one of the top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities. In honor of a $50 million transformational philanthropic gift from Nationwide Foundation, Columbus Childrens Hospital became Nationwide Childrens Hospital September 24, 2007. This renaming reflects the hospitals national stature while staying true to the original mission since its founding in 1892 of providing care regardless of any familys ability to pay. More information is available by calling (614) 722-KIDS (5437) or through www.NationwideChildrens.org.

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
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 more than 750 dealerships nationwide. Journalists are invited to visit our news media web site: www.hyundainews.com.

Contacts:
Zafar Brooks
(714) 965-3584
zbrooks@hmausa.com       

Kevin Oates  
(310) 584-8331
kevin.oates@ketchum.com