Hyundai Donates $500,000 To UPMC Children's Hospital To Help Fight Cancer
LAWRENCEVILLE (KDKA) -- As part of childhood cancer awareness month, a carmaker is touring the country and giving away a lot of money.
Hyundai Hope on Wheels made a stop Wednesday in Lawrenceville at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, presenting a $500,000 check.
The money funds physicians and scientists at the hospital.
"I can't speak highly enough about the Hyundai Hope on Wheels foundation and this opportunity," said Dr. Kelly Bailey, who received $200,000 for the work she is doing with immunotherapy as it relates to the treatment of Ewing's Sarcoma.
Hyundai also gave $300,000 to Dr. Craig Byersdorfer.
With the $500,000 in research grants to Children's Hospital, Hyundai's Hope on Wheels has given more than $13 million to researchers at Children's Hospital and more than $160 million around the country.
That money has already helped patients like Viviana Cardenas, a recent Kent State graduate from New Castle.
She was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma when she was 7 years old. Now she is a 15-year cancer survivor.
"Children's Hospital has made me into a very healthy woman," Cardenas said. "I am so blessed to be here today, when so many don't."
Cardenas was one of the patients at Children's who put their paint-covered handprints on the side of a white Hyundai Santa Fe and a canvas.
The canvas will be placed on the walls inside Children's Hospital as a reminder of the special day.
Local Hyundai dealers say they welcome the opportunity to help.
"For them to fight pediatric cancer the way they do ... we just want to put an end to it," said Gary Flannery, group manager from Washington Hyundai.
For Rachel Petrucelli with the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, days like this are critical for the kids in their on-going battle against cancer.
"These kinds of milestones help them to help them focus on, help them to know that others are working on a cure and are championing their cause," Petrucelli said.
