SOMERSET, NJ March 20 -- This holiday season, Oticon, Inc. saw a unique opportunity to recognize and show appreciation for the life-changing communication made possible by the company’s hearing care partners each and every day of the year. A $15,000 donation from Oticon to the USO Operation Phone Home™ program on behalf of hearing care professionals across the US will enable US service men and women serving overseas to make meaningful connections with their loved ones at home. The donation provides prepaid international phone cards – the USO’s most requested item – free of charge to deployed troops stationed in locations around the world.
Pictured left to right: Robert Walker, Cathy Van Evra, Brian Whiting, Peer Lauritsen, Mary Porath, and Ruben Carpo
Brian Whiting, CEO of USO Metropolitan New York, recently traveled to Somerset to accept the $15,000 check on behalf of the national USO organization. “Oticon’s donation will create thousands of opportunities for US service men and women to say ‘good night’ to a child, ‘I love you’ to a spouse, or ‘I miss you” to a parent,” said Whiting. “Through pre-paid phone cards that are distributed at USO Centers overseas and our private phone network in Southwest Asia, Oticon’s support will provide military families with up to 300,000 minutes of talk time.”
“The ability to communicate is a powerful gift that our hearing care partners give to their clients every day of the year,” explained Oticon President Peer Lauritsen. “Oticon’s gift to the USO Phone Home Program is a token of our appreciation for their essential role in empowering people with hearing loss to communicate freely, interact naturally and participate actively.”
Two of Oticon’s own service veterans, Robert Walker and Ruben Carpio, joined Whiting, Lauritsen, Government Services Manager Cathy Van Evra, and Mary Porath, Channel Manager, Marketing for the presentation. Walker and Carpio can attest to the importance of a phone call home for service men and women stationed thousands of miles from home. The two US Marine Corps veterans each spent 4 years away from family and friends while serving at bases in the US and overseas.
For more information about Oticon, visit www.oticonusa.com or the Oticon Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
