Eden Prairie, Minn.—(February 1, 2006)—The Starkey Hearing Foundation today announced plans to complete seven major hearing mission trips over the next 10 weeks through which it will provide an estimated 6,000 hearing aids to 3,500 adults and children in four countries. The mission trips will include stops in Managua, Nicaragua; Antigua, Guatemala; Caracas and Margarita Island, Venezuela; and Mexico City, Monterrey, and Reynosa, Mexico.
"We are truly delighted to be able to start off 2006 by giving the gift of hearing to thousands of people in need," said William F. Austin, founder of the Starkey Hearing Foundation. "We thank our partners and sponsors who are truly changing lives by making these mission trips possible."
Mission trips are paid for by donations to the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Every year at the Foundation's annual "So the World May Hear" Awards Gala, Gala attendees have an opportunity to bid during a live auction to fund a mission trip. Sponsors of these upcoming mission trips include Knowles Electronics, a leading provider of devices and accessories to the hearing health industry, which is funding the Nicaragua mission; Taylor Corporation, a major holding company based in Minnesota, which is funding the Guatemala mission; Starkey Texas, whose hearing aid customers are funding the Venezuela missions; Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, a global cruise brand with 19 ships in service, which is funding the Mexico City, Mexico mission; and Omni, a division of Starkey, and AMI Semiconductor, Inc., a digital products designer and manufacturer, which are funding the Monterrey and Reynosa, Mexico missions.
The Starkey Hearing Foundation completed six similar mission trips in November and December that resulted in 4,000 patients receiving hearing aids.
About the Starkey Hearing Foundation
Since 1973, Starkey has been giving the gift of hearing to the world's underprivileged—especially children—through its internationally recognized mission program and its domestic program, Hear Now. Since 2000, the Starkey Hearing Foundation has provided more than 130,000 hearing aids to those in need around the world. Visit www.sotheworldmayhear.org to learn more.
For more information on Starkey, visit www.starkey.com
