From left to right: Peer Lauritsen, president of Oticon Inc, rock star Joan Jett, and Brad Stach, chair of AAAF board.

Oticon Inc, Somerset, NJ, has donated $50,000 to the American Academy of Audiology Foundation (AAAF) per the pledge underscoring the company’s recent Hearing with Our Hearts campaign.

Oticon vowed to donate $10 for each “heart” vote cast during AudiologyNOW! 2009, and invited audiologists to designate how the funds generated by their votes would be dispersed among three AAAF programs focusing on education, research, and public awareness. 

“We are pleased that AudiologyNow! participants responded with such feeling in support of three very worthy programs that accomplish much good for the audiology community and hearing impaired people, ”says Peer Lauritsen, the company’s president.

Voters casting ballots for Oticon’s Hearing with Our Hearts campaign.

The heart-shaped ballots were attached to tote bags distributed to registered attendees at the the Dallas event. Participants could cast their ballots at the Oticon exhibit or at an Oticon-sponsored benefit featuring Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. More than 2,000 hearing care professionals attended the concert, taking time to cast a second vote that brought the donation to the targeted goal.

Some 40% of the votes supported the AAAF’s public awareness efforts, which include the Turn It to the Left campaign, public service announcements, and other media aimed at seniors and their families. The education fund supporting science fair outreach and scholarships and awards for graduate students to attend the CAPCSD Summer Institute and other educational conferences netted 35.5% of the votes, followed by 24.5% for research initiatives such as research-focused scientific gatherings and the grants in a hearing and balance science program that funds several different types of research awards for students and new investigators. 

“Oticon is a long-standing supporter of many Foundation efforts, and we greatly appreciate and value their continued partnership,” says Brad Stach, chair of the foundation board.

[Source: Oticon]