Starkey Hearing Foundation and the Gift of Sound

 

 

Starkey Hearing Foundation is the global leader in hearing devises.  Their charity work so far has delivered hearing instruments via mission work to 86 countries.  Founded by William F. Austin in 1984, it’s in keeping with his vision, “So the World May Hear” that the lives of countless men, women and children have been blessed with the gift of hearing. Heightening social consciousness on the importance of being able to hear, Starkey Hearing Foundation launched the Hearing Conservation program, “SoundMatters” to educate the public  to the importance of their mission work which offers people in every country the opportunity to receive the hearing care that they need.

Today the Foundation is sustained by the selfless efforts of volunteers and donors across the globe.  Since 2000, more than 340,000 hearing instruments have been gifted to those in need.  Since 2003, Dr. Trevi Sawalich has traveled the world with the Starkey Hearing Foundation helping under- privileged individuals in every country get the help they need.  Now she and her partner Leah Jackson are the co-directors of the incredible, state-of-the-art Starkey Hearing Foundation facility, in Beverly Hills.  According to them, what they do is more than a job…it’s a privilege.  

“I had just graduated from medical school and was dating my now husband Steven Sawalich, Bill’s son.  One day Bill asked me what I thought about helping with hearing aids.  My first thought was that I didn’t know anything about it, but Bill has an incredible passion about what he does and it pulls you in,” said Trevi.   “He said let’s go on a mission to South Africa where we ended up fitting more than 1,000 children with hearing aids.  Some had never heard before.  After watching him, he let me fit a couple of hearing aids and it was the most amazing experience of my life.  After that, I was in.  Nothing even comes close to knowing that you helped a child hear his/her mother’s voice for the first time.” 

BHT: Tell us about your Beverly Hills office.  

Dr. Trevi: Bill wanted a westside office.  Many generous mission donors and volunteers to our Foundation live in the Beverly Hills and surrounding areas.  Not to mention all of those who wear our hearing aids.  Bill wanted to offer everyone     a local facility that could service all of their hearing needs.  Here at the Beverly Hills office we are equipped to handle everything from hearing check-ups to outfitting people with hearing devices.  It’s a full service office for our clients.   

BHT: Any new hearing programs.

Dr.Trevi:  The foundation has created SoundMatters, a program that educates the public on healthy hearing. There are many things people can do to protect their hearing and we help people work them into their lives. The Grammy Foundation programs teaches artists how to protect their hearing and the importance of regular check-ups.  People don’t realize just how much personal entertainment devices, such as headphones can hurt the ear—how loud they can be.  We teach prevention and protection at every age. Best Buy and The Grammy Foundation are teaming up offering information in their mail-outs about the importance of having regular hearing tests.  Another program we are working on is having each child tested before they enter school. A child may wrongly be labeled a ‘slow learner’ when, in fact that child simply may not be able to hear well.

BHT: What are some of Starkey’s products? 

Dr. Trevi:  We focus our attentions on the individual in order to accomplish a more personalized fit.  Some people require actual hearing aids or blue tooth molds that fits into their ears. Others may require musician’s ear plugs and/or ear monitors for various shows.  Our  products are custom made to the individual’s specific needs. 

BHT:  Tell us about your fabulous annual fundraiser, “So The World May Hear.” 

Dr. Trevi:  Every summer we have a big fundraiser in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  It has become one of the largest fundraising events in the country; last year we raised over five million dollars.  This year it will be held  on July 12, 2009 and Billy Crystal, Tony Bennett and Gladys Knight will perform along with a super A-List mystery performer.  It’s all very exciting.  About 1600 people will attend the three day weekend with parties at Bill and Tani Austin’s home, golf at Hazeltine PGA Course, breakfast at Tiffany’s, the Gala evening and a great after party.  People interested can contact  our office or visit:www.sotheworldmayhear.org.  We support our local celebrities in Beverly Hills and they come and support us in Minnesota for our summer event.  People travel from all over the world to join us because it is so worthwhile, magical and so much fun!

BHT: How do you get such amazing celebrity support?  

Dr. Trevi: Elton John said it best from the stage of our 2004 Gala, “How can you see these children hear for the first time and NOT support this Foundation.”  You can instantly see the brain reacting to sound, It’s like a light switch went on.  Celebrities and entertainers know how vital hearing i; it feeds the spirit and soul.  Generally celebrities want to help once they overcome their own hearing loss, or in some cases we have helped someone close to them or they’ve joined us on our  missions, like Trisha Yearwood and Marlee Matlin, and witnessed how we help people who need us.  We work with many generous, famous, good people such as, The Osbourne Family, Lou Ferrigno, Jim Belishi, Steve Martin, George Schlatter, Cynthia Rowley, Garth Brooks, and many more.  They give of their time, talent and dollars to help children have a chance at life through better hearing.

BHT:  Can you help everyone hear better? 

Dr. Trevi: We aim to help everyone.  A family from Ecuador came to the office and we fit the child with the highest power-hearing device because he could not hear at all.  He looked at his mother and then at me and started crying,  His mom was so happy.   

BHT: In third world countries how do people find you? 

Dr. Trevi: When we do a hearing aid mission there are partners on the other end helping us like other hearing professionals, service clubs, foundations, and even  governments.  We bring a team of people for domestic and international missions, then partner with the local volunteers and entities to work on 300-3000 people per mission in need of hearing care.  My most recent inter- national mission was Egypt last November where we fitted about 3,000 hearing aids on children and adults. Starkey’s Hearing Foundation accomplishes 100 missions a year.  Bill wants to help every- one, whether it’s a child from Ecuador or A-List Celebrity—all he sees is a person in need of a better quality of life.  It is his passion and it has become mine as well.   

BHT:  Your husband Steven Sawalich is a director with a film production company.  How does he find time to stay involved with Starkey Hearing Foundation? 

Dr. Trevi: This is a family business.  My husband has produced documentaries for the foundation, as well as many emotional and moving videos, for the last 10 years.  He works in feature films and released on DVD, “Music Within” a true story about a man, Richard Pimental, who lost his hearing in the Vietnam War.  It’s a feel good story about a man who overcome adversity and changed the world, starring Ron Livingston and Michael Sheen.  We actually fit Richard Pimental with a hearing aid.  Steven is partnered with Gil Adler, who produced “Superman” and “Valkyrie”  and they have eight projects in the works.  Steven’s company, Articulus Entertainment produces our event in Minneapolis and goes on five or six missions a year with me.  

Dr. Trevi Sawalich
Starkey Hearing Foundation
275 South Beverly Drive, Suite 200
Beverly Hills, CA.  90212
310.691.1411   or   310.691.1450 fax

Trevi@DrTrevi.com 
www.sotheworldmayhear.org
www.soundmatters.org