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Black Tie
International:
Starkey
Hearing Foundation
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The
Dalai Lama blesses Bill and Tani Austin, founders of Starkey
Hearing Foundation, as Lama Guru Gyaltsen looks on |
STARKEY HEARING FOUNDATION FOUNDERS
BILL AND TANI AUSTIN HONORED BY DALAI LAMA
AFTER RECENT HEARING MISSION TO INDIA
More Than 14,000 Hearing Aids
Fit to People in Need Over the Course of Two- Week Mission
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Starkey Hearing Foundation
recently completed a hearing mission in India, where
founders Bill and Tani Austin were blessed by the Dalai Lama
for their philanthropic efforts around the world.
The Foundation delivered the gift of hearing by fitting more
than 14,000 hearing aids to people in need. This is the
Foundation’s second mission to India in 2012 alone, and they
had the opportunity to fit patients with hearing aids in a
total of six cities – Hubli, Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur,
Bangalore and Mundgod. In Lucknow with an expanded mission
team, Starkey Hearing Foundation set a new record for
patients fit in one day, with a total of 1,337 receiving the
gift of hearing, many hearing for the first time.
While in India, the
Foundation’s team of audiologists and staff fit each of the
recipients with their own hearing device and custom ear
mold. During the Foundation’s last India mission in May,
they provided hearing aids for Tibetan refugees in Hubli,
Dharamsala and Mundgod. Many more were fit on this mission
as well in Mundgod and Bangalore, as Starkey Hearing
Foundation continues to fulfill their Clinton Global
Initiative (CGI) commitment to provide one million hearing
aids to people in need this decade.
During May’s mission to India, the Foundation delivered the
gift of hearing to the Lama Guru Gyaltsen and followed up on
his progress during this mission. The Foundation’s global
work and efforts to provide the gift of hearing to the
Tibetan people caught the attention of the Dalai Lama,
leading him to grant a special blessing to founders Bill and
Tani Austin, the mission and the
Foundation itself.
“It’s such a privilege to help the lives of others, by
connecting them to their loved ones and the world, through
the gift of hearing,” said Bill Austin. “I am humbled and
eternally grateful that the Dalai Lama would take time to
recognize our work and give us this
special blessing.”
Starkey Hearing Foundation is dedicated to bringing
understanding among individuals and communities by providing
the gift of hearing and has been honored and recognized for
their work by other heads of state and world leaders during
the past year, the most recent being the Dalai Lama.
Earlier this year, Starkey Hearing Foundation delivered the
gift of hearing to nearly 7,000 hearing impaired children
and adults as part of a history-making hearing mission to
China, where co-founder Bill Austin received the passport to
South Gate of Xi'an, the entrance to the ancient city.
Austin was also given the first ever Orange Ribbon Award and
named Goodwill Ambassador to the city of Chengdu.
Additionally, this past September, Starkey Hearing
Foundation participated in the Clinton Global Initiative
(CGI) Annual Meeting along with heads of state and global
corporate and non-profit leaders, where Austin was invited
to give an update on the Foundation’s worldwide efforts.
Starkey Hearing Foundation’s India Mission is one of dozens
conducted each year, both domestically and internationally,
in its efforts to fit more than 100,000 hearing aids to
people in
need annually.
According to Starkey Hearing Foundation, hearing loss is
pervasive, affecting 34 million Americans – or one in 10.
Yet, with the help of a hearing device, hearing loss can
often be corrected in a majority cases, giving an individual
the opportunity to better connect with their family, the
community and the world around them.
About Starkey Hearing Foundation
Starkey Hearing Foundation is bringing understanding among
individuals and communities through hearing care by focusing
on awareness, education, protection and treatment, so the
world may hear. Hearing loss affects one in 10 Americans,
and 63 million children worldwide, yet many do not have
access to the hearing devices that can help them. Starkey
Hearing Foundation fits and gives more than 100,000 hearing
aids annually, and as a member of President Clinton’s Global
Initiative, it has pledged to fit one million hearing aids
this decade. In addition to giving the gift of hearing
through worldwide hearing missions, Starkey Hearing
Foundation promotes hearing health awareness and education
through the Listen Carefully initiative and provides hearing
instruments to low-income Americans through the Hear Now
program. For more information on Starkey Hearing Foundation,
visit www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org
.
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