Hyundai Hope on Wheels awards Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital grant for pediatric-cancer program

SYRACUSE — The nonprofit Hyundai Hope on Wheels today awarded Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital of Syracuse a $75,000 Hyundai Scholar Grant to expand the facility’s Survivor Wellness Center.

Dr. Jody Sima, the center’s director, will use the funding to expand the center to include pediatric patients treated in Upstate’s brain-tumor program and address late- effects therapy from the time of diagnosis, Hyundai said in a news release.

The facility’s Survivor Wellness Center provides long-term, follow-up care, for cancer survivors of all ages.

The organization presented the check during its Handprint Ceremony at the hospital. The event included pediatric-cancer patients dipping their hands in a colorful paint and placing their handprints on a white-colored Hyundai Santa Fe Sport to commemorate their battles with cancer, the organization said.

Hope On Wheels in 2013 will donate 40 Hyundai Scholar Grants totaling $3 million to institutions nationwide. Recipients are referred to as Hyundai Scholars, the organization said.

By year’s-end, Hope On Wheels will surpass $72 million in donations to pediatric-cancer institutions nationwide since its inception in 1998.

Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing “life-saving” research and innovative treatments for cancer, the organization said.

Primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Costa Mesa, Calif.–based Hyundai Motor America and its more than 800 U.S. dealers.

The company is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea, the organization added.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com