By Hadas Kuznits

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia today received a donation from area Hyundai dealers for over $325,000.  And it’s not the first year the car dealers have made a substantial donation to CHOP.

Courtney Simmons, 17, is a cancer survivor.

“I can walk and I have a bionic leg, which I think is pretty cool,” she says.  “The entirety of my leg is metal inside.  And twenty-five years ago, I wouldn’t have had a choice of having my leg amputated or not.”

She says donations like this one help researchers come up with better treatments for kids like her.

“Honestly, I feel like I’m actually a part of the research that’s going on,” she told KYW Newsradio today.  “I guess it makes me feel more a part of a future cure for cancer — like my battle now makes someone else’s fight in the future easier.”

Simmons hopes one day the money will help researchers find a cure for cancer.

Meanwhile, Dr. John Maris, director for the center for childhood cancer research at CHOP, says the hospital really depends on private donors like Hyundai.

“The federal government, as everyone knows, is under a lot of competing pressures right now, and there just simply isn’t enough money as there should be for cancer research,” he said today.