Walk4Hearing to break donation record

I reported on this earlier this year in April and in 8 months time the Walk4Hearing organization was able to raise another $800,000 with $1.2 million dollars already raised with the goal of $1.4 million dollars this year. From the looks of it they will definitely break the $1.4 million dollar mark this year beating out last year of $1.3 million dollars.

Money raised is shared between national and local programs and services including support of children with hearing loss at www.kidsandhearingloss.org.

National Programs and Services      

• Provide timely and reliable information about hearing loss through HLAA’s website, Hearing Loss Magazine, HLAA e-News, the Hearing Loss Support Specialist Training, message boards/chat forums and annual conventions
• Advocacy at the national level to affect legislation that impacts people with hearing loss, whether it’s funding for hearing aids, cochlear implants, communication access in public places or other important issues
• A nationwide network of chapters and state organizations providing peer support
• Support for parents of children with hearing loss at www.kidsandhearingloss.org
• Outreach to veterans returning with hearing loss
• Social networking site for young adults with hearing loss at www.hearinglossnation.org

Local Programs and Services     

• Captioning and hearing assistive technology at HLAA chapter meetings to make them accessible
• Scholarships toward college tuition for students with hearing loss
• Funding for hearing aids and assistive listening devices for people who cannot afford them
• Installation of hearing assistive technology in public places, such as community rooms and public libraries
• Captioning of live theater productions
• Seminars on coping with hearing loss

The www.kidsandhearingloss.org website is to help

...empower parents of hard of hearing and/or deaf children by providing the resources necessary for them to make informed decisions about their children’s hearing loss.

The Walking Effect

The difference between Walk4Hearing and Walk for ASL?

Walk4Hearing involves the community on a much larger scale with thousands of people every year in 22 different cities from June through October. The local media reporting in each city help generate more public awareness about hearing loss. It's a public relation dream machine. Walk for ASL on the other hand involves 15 culturally deaf people who will walk for 30 days from San Francisco to Santa Monica, California with the hope that their actions and message will capture the attention of the media.

Walk4Hearing is again raising money and has a very successful formula since 2006 because approximately 1 out 8 Americans with hearing loss have something that they can relate to each other with a common condition. There are many more hearing parents, friends and families who know someone with a hearing loss.  It could be their grandpa who experienced hearing loss later in his life. Or have a deaf or hard of hearing brother or a sister. A parent with a hearing loss. A hearing person whose best friend wears a hearing aid. A next door neighbor whose teenager experienced hearing loss from Meningitis.  Hearing loss is such a common condition in the United States the majority of the population are familiar with it. And because of the familiarity about hearing loss they become much more approachable about auditory-oral education, hearing aids, cochlear implants, or implantable hearing device that uses the eardrum as a natural microphone. No wonder auditory-oral schools are succeeding in their public relation efforts with their communities.

In its first year in 2006 the Walk4Hearing raised over $300,000. Since 2006 they have raised several million dollars. In 2011 Walk4Hearing successfully raised $1.1 million dollars in a matter of months. In 2012 they surpassed the $1.2 million dollar mark. This year their goal is to raise $1.4 million dollars and so far they are 24% of their goal with $336,000 raised already and they are on track to surpass the $1.4 million dollar mark before the first walk to start in June of this year.

Money raised is shared between national and local programs and services including support of children with hearing loss at www.kidsandhearingloss.org.

National Programs and Services    

• Provide timely and reliable information about hearing loss through HLAA’s website, Hearing Loss Magazine, HLAA e-News, the Hearing Loss Support Specialist Training, message boards/chat forums and annual conventions
• Advocacy at the national level to affect legislation that impacts people with hearing loss, whether it’s funding for hearing aids, cochlear implants, communication access in public places or other important issues
• A nationwide network of chapters and state organizations providing peer support
• Support for parents of children with hearing loss at www.kidsandhearingloss.org
• Outreach to veterans returning with hearing loss
• Social networking site for young adults with hearing loss at www.hearinglossnation.org

Local Programs and Services    

• Captioning and hearing assistive technology at HLAA chapter meetings to make them accessible
• Scholarships toward college tuition for students with hearing loss
• Funding for hearing aids and assistive listening devices for people who cannot afford them
• Installation of hearing assistive technology in public places, such as community rooms and public libraries
• Captioning of live theater productions
• Seminars on coping with hearing loss

The www.kidsandhearingloss.org website is to help

empower parents of hard of hearing and/or deaf children by providing the resources necessary for them to make informed decisions about their children’s hearing loss.

Below is a Walk4Hearing video promotion with subtitles.




Walk for ASL is a new venture idea to help raise awareness and seek funding for their own agenda and cause. It only actively involve 15 deaf people who will walk in California the 600 miles from San Francisco to Santa Monica in 30 days along the Pacific Coast Highway. Their goal is to get the attention of the media.

The difference here is that ASL and deaf culture are essentially a hidden language and community. They are more apparent in large cities such as Washington D.C.; Rochester, NY; Seattle, WA; and Austin, TX. Even in large cities the bulk of hearing people go about their daily lives and never get to meet or see a signing deaf person in their life. And for a good reason because the culturally deaf community make up about 0.2% (0.002) of the total population in the United States. The chance to meet a signing deaf person or a deaf group would be quite small. It becomes harder for hearing people to even sympathize with such a small deaf community when they try and raise awareness on ASL, a language and culture that are totally foreign to most of the hearing society. They might hear about signing deaf people in the news on rare occasions or by chance see a deaf character in a television show. But to the hearing society the language and culture of deaf people are still completely foreign to them.

Below is a Walk for ASL video promotion but no subtitles or transcript available.

Hearing Loss Association of America Surpasses $1.2 Million Dollar Goal

Received an interesting email announcement from HLAA about their fund raising effort in 2011 through their Walk4Hearing fund raising events. It's amazing to see how much they've raised money in one year. Already into 2012 they've raised almost $70,000 which is about 5% of their $1.3 million dollar goal.

Bethesda, MD: The Hearing Loss Association of America is pleased to announce its line-up of 2012 spring and fall Walks in 21 cities across the country. The Walk4Hearing experienced growth for the sixth straight year and surpassed its 2011 fundraising goal of $1.2 million.


Hearing loss is a leading public health concern with 36 million adults reporting some degree of hearing loss, yet most people go untreated. The Walk4Hearing increases awareness about hearing loss, minimizes the stigma associated with it, and raises funds to expand services and programs.


Mike Orscheln, president and CEO of Phonak, is the 2012 National Business Chair. Orscheln stated, “Two years as the Chicago Business Chair and last year taking on national responsibilities has given me an even stronger commitment to help this event become more successful. The dynamics that are occurring in our industry make the collaboration among industry, hearing health professionals and consumers more critical than ever. Let’s make 2012 the biggest and best year ever for the Walk4Hearing!”


National sponsors of the 2012 Walk4Hearing include: AARP, MED-EL, T-Mobile, Advanced Bionics, Cochlear Americas and Phonak.


Director of the Walk4Hearing, Ronnie Adler, commented that dedicated volunteers helped realize a 25% increase in the number of teams and walkers, making the Walk4Hearing the largest walk event for people with hearing loss. There was also an increase in the number of alliance groups which are participants from schools, hearing loss-related organizations, and others that share the proceeds.


Along with Ronnie Adler, Rebecca Lander serves as the National Walk4Hearing Coordinator. Suzanne D’Amico, a veteran of the New York City Walk, joins HLAA as the Northeast Region Coordinator, effective February 1, 2012.

In their website they have a list of cities where this Walk4Hearing will take place. The last city on the list is Washington D.C. to take place on November 4. Take the time and go to one for a good cause. I've met all kinds of people there even those who are deaf and fluent in sign language.

Walk4Hearing reaches pivotal fund raising goal

It took 10 months starting in January of this year the Walk4Hearing to finally reach their fund raising goal of $1.2 million dollars in record time. Money raised will be used toward resources for deaf and hard of hearing people. And why so quickly did it raise so much money in such a relatively short time? Simple. There was no politics mucking things up. No political correctness games. No secret agenda. No contacting employers because of disagreements or purely for hate against a person they don't like. No calling Child Protective Services. No practicing on exclusion.  No leading from behind. No leaving bad taste in people's mouths. No attacking other organizations. With HLAA, everybody is involved and we/they help each other out regardless of communication preferences.

Money raised is shared between the national organization (Hearing Loss Association of America) and local Walk sites.

Examples of how funds are used include:

National Programs

• Advocating for the rights of people with hearing loss
• Information, referral, education and coping resources through www.hearingloss.org, the Hearing Loss Magazine, the annual HLAA Convention, and the HLAA electronic newsletter
• A nationwide network of 200 chapters providing personal support
• 14 state organizations advocating for expanded state services
• Support for parents of children with hearing loss at www.kidsandhearingloss.org
• Outreach to veterans returning with hearing loss
• Social networking site for young adults with hearing loss at www.hearinglossnation.org

Local Programs

• Captioning and hearing assistive technology at chapter meetings to make them accessible
• Scholarships for students with hearing loss towards college tuition
• Funding for hearing aids and devices for people who cannot afford them
• Installation of hearing assistive technology in public places
• Captioning of live theater productions
• Seminars on coping with hearing loss for families

Congratulations to Walk4Hearing on their successful fund raising effort. I'm sure money will be put to good use.

An example of a successful hearing loss organization

If you haven't heard of Hearing Loss Association of America you will now. This is an organization that has been around awhile since 1979 when they were known as SHHH (Self Help for Hard of Hearing) aimed at mostly the hard of hearing segment of society. It has grown today into a nationally known organization that is representative of the hearing loss population seen in the United States with 36 million people with hearing loss. In 2006, they began a Walk4Hearing project as way to raise funds. In it's first year it was a smashing success surpassing expectations on the money raised when they hoped to get $25,000 and instead got $300, 000 that year. This year their goal is to raise $1.2 million dollars and they are already on track to reach that goal with $1.07 million dollars already raised so far. A remarkable feat in such a short time. A testament to their marketing skills, support and advocacy.  The Walk4Hearing is national event that takes place in 24 cities throughout the year providing constant awareness about hearing loss and their organization. It is the largest walk of its kind in the country that raises awareness and helps to eradicate the stigma associated with hearing loss.

The organization's mission is to help people rather than create enemies. Their organization's leaders do not disparage people, create an oppressive "political atmosphere," attack companies, mess around with their bylaws or go after organizations because of a philosophical difference. Their philosophy is different. Their goals are different. Their mission is to is to open the world of communication to people with hearing loss by providing information, education, support and advocacy. Because of that people become receptive of that approach in seeking their support and help.

On one end you have deaf organizations (e.g. CAD, NAD, DeafNation, etc) that are completely and exclusively for the most part Deaf people that have a totally different way of interacting socially and with a different mindset. Now, if you have ever attended Hearing Loss Association of America workshops, visited their chapters (like I have) or conventions and met people there you'd find out it to be a completely different environment because you'll come across people with all forms of hearing loss from mild to profound wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants. Many of them do know sign language while a majority of them are people who speak and listen. This is especially noticeable at the Walk4Hearing if you ever get a chance to participate and interact with them. It's an almost completely different social camaraderie atmosphere compared to an exclusively Deaf environment. Those at Walk4Hearing are people that are representative of the hearing loss population in the U.S.

Watch this captioned video about the Walk4Hearing and the people involved. There are some signers in this video, too.

The million dollar whine....

People need to stop whining about Marlee Matlin's $1 million dollar charity contribution via The Celebrity Apprentice show to the Starkey Hearing Foundation in their own utter befuddlement over on why she didn't contribute to NAD or some other organizations. Best to put your money where your mouth is if you are so darned worried about NAD not getting enough money. As for Starkey HF, I simply see evidence of them being a successful organization than anything else.  I've no need for these hokey, wild-eyed conspiracy theories about Marlee Matlin, and Starkey Hearing Foundation. Better to focus than to whine.

All this boils down to simple math if ya'll want to see $1 million dollars put into, for example, NAD's coffer each year.

Let's use 5,000 people who can contribute to NAD as an example. That's $200 per person per year. Or just under $17 per month if you prefer to contribute monthly. Are you telling me that a mere 5000 Deaf people are unable to contribute basically a few dollars a month to NAD? That's 100 Deaf people from each state in the United States that can contribute if they are so concerned about NAD or where the money "should be" going.

Which is it, folks? Complain and worry about NAD or other organizations not getting enough money for more and better advocacy while complaining incessantly on how Marlee Matlin should've forked over the $1 million, or actually have the balls to do something about it? BTW, you don't have to be a member to donate. 

As for me, I am more in line with HLAA's philosophy.  And more good news on "Walk4Hearing" fund raising goal. They are at 30% of their goal on raising $1.2 million dollars. At least they're doing something positive that reach across all folks with a wide range of hearing loss.  

Cool tech at Walk4Hearing

Technology on communication access continues to improve especially for people with hearing loss. At all of the Walk4Hearing events this year you can get streaming live captioning on your smart phone.

Attention Walkers! Remember to bring your smart phones with you to the Walk because we will be streaming live CART to web-enabled smart phones. All pre-Walk speeches will be captioned on your iPhone, BlackBerry*, or Droid. So don’t leave your smart phone at home!

On Walk day all walkers who have their smart phone can go to www.quickcaption.com. There on the website homepage will be a large purple Walk4Hearing icon. Simply click the icon, click the "CC" icon next to your Walk location, real time captioning will be enabled and displayed on your smart phone. This great service is provided by Quick Caption.

*To view the captions on the BlackBerry, you will need to be running the BlackBerry OS version 4.6 or higher, enable JavaScript, and set the browser type to BlackBerry. Then open the live event with the BlackBerry browser.

This is truly an example of diversity and understanding the needs of people with hearing loss when it comes to communication access.

Walk4Hearing....coming to a city near you.

Do you like to walk or even hike? Do you have a hearing loss or knows someone with a hearing loss? Would like to join hundreds of thousands of people across the United State the chance to walk for hearing that may be coming nearby to your city? And help raise money? The first walk starts on June 5, 2011 at Long Beach, California. Find your city and walk dates here. I know I'll be there.
Will you?

2011 FUNDRAISING GOAL: $1.2 MILLION

Currently the Walk4Hearing has raised almost $160,000 so far for this year. That's 13% of their goal. Let's get down and break all expectations and go beyond the $1.2 million dollars goal. Let's break the bank! If Marlee Matlin can bring in $1 million dollars for Starkey Hearing Foundation and break all expectations on what's possible, so can the people who will go to the Walk4Hearing event. 



Learn more about Walk4Hearing.

The Walk4Hearing, produced by the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), is the largest walk of its kind in the country that raises awareness and helps to eradicate the stigma associated with hearing loss. The HLAA Walk4Hearing is held in multiple cities across the country. Since 2006, over 18,000 walkers have stepped up and helped raise money for programs and services for people with hearing loss and their families. Money raised is shared between the national organization and local Walk sites. Examples of how funds are used include:

National Programs

• Advocating for the rights of people with hearing loss
• Information, referral, education and coping resources through www.hearingloss.org, the Hearing Loss Magazine, the annual HLAA Convention, and the HLAA electronic newsletter
• A nationwide network of 200 chapters providing personal support
• 14 state organizations advocating for expanded state services
• Support for parents of children with hearing loss at www.kidsandhearingloss.org
• Outreach to veterans returning with hearing loss
• Social networking site for young adults with hearing loss at www.hearinglossnation.org

Local Programs

• Captioning and hearing assistive technology at chapter meetings to make them accessible
• Scholarships for students with hearing loss towards college tuition
• Funding for hearing aids and devices for people who cannot afford them
• Installation of hearing assistive technology in public places
• Captioning of live theater productions
• Seminars on coping with hearing loss for families

Why We Walk?

• We walk because hearing loss is a public health issue in the United States.
• 36 million people have some form of hearing loss
• 22 million have noise-induced hear loss that could be prevented
• More than 59,000 military members have disability status for hearing loss from current wars.
• 30 school-aged children per 1,000 have a hearing loss

Join and Walk4Hearing this year and join the diversity of people with hearing loss.