In 1998, Hyundai joined the fight against pediatric cancer. The Hope On Wheels tour, through the Jimmy Fund, have been helping kids fight cancer with corporate contributions of over $7 million to hospitals across the country. The Hope On Wheels national tour features a white Hyundai Tucson SUV covered with the colorful handprints of pediatric cancer patients from all over the country. Francesca, a 9-year-old, two-time cancer survivor, is the 2006 Hyundai Hope On Wheels Spokes-kid.

In 2003, Francesca was diagnosed with undifferentiated sarcoma, a form of bone cancer that affects three in 1 million children under the age of 14. Five months of chemotherapy, surgeries and then more chemotherapy followed. In 2004, Francesca was diagnosed with a more lethal type of cancer, secondary acute myeloid leukemia, with a cure rate of 10 percent or less in most patients. Francesca needed a bone marrow transplant, but none of her family members proved to be a donor match. Francesca's doctors at UC Davis found a match through a national search of donated umbilical cord tissue, and she received the transplant in March 2005. On March 22, 2006, Francesca celebrated her one-year anniversary in remission. When she grows up, Francesca wants to become a doctor so she can find a cure for cancer.