U.S. lawmaker Mike Kelly (second from left) poses with Hyundai Motor America officials including HMA deputy head Lee Byung-ho (left) after presenting the U.S. flag to the Korean automaker at a ceremony organized by the Childhood Cancer Caucus in Washington D.C. on Thursday. (Hyundai Motor)
A group of 96 U.S. congressmen helping children suffering from cancer presented the star-spangled banner which had been hung in the Capitol in Washington D.C. to Hyundai Motor Co., in appreciation of the Korean carmaker’s support for the campaign, company officials said on Friday.
Hyundai Motor is currently the only private company that the U.S. organization Childhood Cancer Caucus has invited for two consecutive years as an official partner for the community service program, the officials said.
The presentation of the U.S. national flag owes largely to the car manufacturer’s 14-year-old anti-cancer campaign “Hope on Wheels,” altogether donating about $57 million to Childhood Cancer Caucus.
The automaker raised the fund through saving some of the profits gained through its some 800 dealerships in the U.S., plus the firm’s separate donations.
As Hyundai Motor saw a steep increase in the sales, it donated about $12 million this year to U.S. medical centers and research institutes.
Co-founded and co-chaired by two U.S. representatives Michael McCaul and Chris Van Hollen, Childhood Cancer Caucus was established in 2009 to help members of Congress collaborate on raising awareness of childhood cancer and support the young patients’ recovery.
By Chung Joo-won (
joowonc@heraldcorp.com)
