Oklahoma City-based Audio Recovery is hosting a Facebook contest called “Gift of Hearing” to give away free ReSound hearing aids to eight lucky individuals with hearing loss. The contest encourages the local community to read the nominations on Facebook and vote for the nominee they think should receive the hearing aids. Voting will continue through May 15 and eight sets of ReSound hearing aids will be given away to the individuals with the most votes.
So far, 24 individuals have been nominated and more than 2,200 votes have been registered. Audio Recovery’s Facebook page, which had less than 100 followers before the contest started, now has more than 1,400 “likes”.
Here are just a few of the nominations submitted via Facebook:
I would like to nominate my son, Ethan Bishop. He is 6 years old, and in Kindergarten. We recently were told that his hearing loss is permanent and we are 2 years behind the curve of where he needs to be. We were heartsick to hear these words. We have been through two different surgeries to have tubes put in and were told that this would fix his hearing issues as well as the infections. Well, they did fix the infections, but not the hearing loss. I would like nothing more than for my little boy to be able to hear all the things he is missing out on. The gift of hearing, would mean the world to my son. He has his whole future ahead of him, and being able to hear correctly would remove one of the greatest hurdles he is facing right now. It’s every parent’s dream to have their child live a happy and fulfilled life. The gift of hearing would allow him to do that.
Libby Slaughter is an amazing young woman who pours her life into those around her. She has progressive hearing loss that started in her 20’s and just continues to get worse each year. She is 36 years old and leads a very active life despite this handicap. She has been a missionary with a Christian organization called Cru for over 10 years. She interacts with many people every day and this has become an exhausting task with the communication barrier. Relationships and community are very important to her but more and more she is left out of conversations because she just can’t hear them. She has one working hearing aid but it is no longer adequate to correct her loss. Choosing Libby would be such a blessing and bring so much joy to her, those who love her and those who richly benefit from her ministry. Please vote for my sweet daughter, Libby.
Charolett Summers Nolte is an amazing woman. When she was just a toddler she was diagnosed with Usher’s Syndrome affecting both her speech and hearing. With the assist of hearing aids, Charolett gained partial hearing in her left ear but not in her right ear. Speech therapy corrected the lisp she experienced due to Usher’s syndrome. At age 30, more changes occurred. Charolett was diagnosed with Retinitis pigmentosis which sometimes follows Usher’s syndrome. This change in hearing and vision did not hinder this woman from living the dream. She gave birth to 3 children. She returned to college and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Studio Art and a Minor in History. She utilized her talent’s and education as a story teller and hand print artist. Through diet changes and supplement, something unheard of happened, Charolett regained 57% audio noise in the right ear. She was fitted with a second hearing aid. Always the analog style hearing aids, Charolett experiences an issue with feedback daily. This can become somewhat of a nuisance if she is always having to adjust the volume. With not one but two senses disabled, it would be a blessing for one to be properly assisted. We learned recently that the black spots within Charolett’s vision is not blockage, but the early progression of her of secondary disability. As her other two children would agree with me, we refuse to treat our mother as if she has a disability and hope to keep her life as if she did not have any disabilities. This would be an answered pray and blessing to such a spirited, kind, loving woman. She has opened her home to many kids and friends. She continues to enjoy life regardless of the hearing loss and vision loss. I pray you will agree and help hear to a life of endless hearing.
Visit Audio Recovery’s Facebook page to nominate someone for the “Gift of Hearing” and vote.