Hyundai Motor America and Boston Area Dealers Present $347,000 to Jimmy Fund HYUNDAI & ITS DEALERS DONATE TO CANCER INSTITUTE Magic medicine: Celina Valenti (far left), who donated bone marrow tissue to her brother, poses with Hyundai's Eastern Region General Manager Michael Tocci (second from left) and Jimmy Fund Chairman Mike Andrews at the Hyundai/Jimmy Fund Check presentation. Tom O'Brien (far right), owner of Tom O'Brien Hyundai in Quincy, Mass., holds Celina's brother, Salvatore, a recent patient at the Jimmy Fund Clinic. Hyundai Motor America and its dealers donated $347,000 to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to support the Jimmy Fund Clinic. (PRNewsFoto)[AG] BOSTON, MA USA 12/06/2000

6 December 2000

    BOSTON, Dec. 6 Hyundai Motor America, through its Eastern
Region dealers and national contributions, has presented a check in the amount
of $347,000 to the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to support
research against cancer.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001206/NYW011 )
    For the past three years, Hyundai has been a sponsor of the Help Strike
Out Cancer Campaign.  Teaming up with the Boston Red Sox, Hyundai pledged
$50 per strike out during the Sox' regular season games.  During the 2000
season, Red Sox pitchers struck out 1,121 batters, including a league-leading
284 strikeouts by Cy Young award winner Pedro Martinez.
    This year Hyundai became a corporate sponsor of the Jimmy Fund.  "The
disease of cancer touches everyone's life.  Hyundai Motor America feels it is
important to support the crucial research that is performed by the Jimmy Fund
Clinic," said Hyundai Eastern Region General Manager Michael Tocci, who
presented the check to Jimmy Fund Chairman and former Boston Red Sox second
baseman Mike Andrews.  Tocci added, "Through Hyundai's collective efforts we
can say that 'Hyundai and the Jimmy Fund: Helping Kids Fight Cancer' is a goal
we strongly support."
    Also at the check presentation was 3-year-old Salvatore Valenti, a
testament to the work of the Jimmy Fund Clinic.  In 1999, Sal was diagnosed
with Wiskot/Aldrich, an immune deficiency disease.  The Valenti family, who
live in Revere, Mass., sought help at the Jimmy Fund Clinic.
    One of the challenges facing the doctors and family was to find a donor
who had a high match to the bone marrow of Salvatore.  As it tuned out, his
sister, Celina, was a 100% match.  Lisa Valenti, Sal and Celina's mother said,
"It was highly unusual to find a 100% tissue donor and that the donor would be
a member of the family."
    The bone marrow transplant took place on December 26, 1999.  Today, one
year later, Salvatore is in full remission.  When asked how she felt about
helping her brother, 6-year-old Celina said, "God gave me a magic medicine to
save my brother's life."
    Holding little Sal's hand, Vinny Valenti, his father, said, "The people
who work in the Jimmy Fund Clinic are the best.  They saw us through a very
stressful period in our lives.  The staff is truly amazing."
    Tom O'Brien, owner of Tom O'Brien Hyundai in Quincy, Mass., has been
involved with the Jimmy Fund for 10 years.  O'Brien said, "This charity does
so much for adults and children with cancer as well as their families who are
struggling with this disease."
    Jimmy Fund Chairman Andrews said, "The commitment of corporate sponsors
like Hyundai is key to helping the physicians and researchers at the Jimmy
Fund Clinic find the means to reduce or eradicate cancer.  We all look forward
to that day."

    Since 1948, the Jimmy Fund has supported the search for new cancer
treatments and helped to provide cancer care to patients at Boston's
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the nation's premier cancer centers.

    Hyundai Motor America, based in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary
of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea.  Hyundai vehicles are distributed in the
United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more
than 500 dealerships nationwide.