So The World May Hear
Tani and Bill Austin are on a mission. Their goal is to bring
the gift of sound to the ears of thousands of hearing-impaired
children around the world. The Austins’ Starkey Hearing
Foundation pursues about 150 missions each year. In 2006, the
Foundation distributed more than 30,000 hearing aids to
needy children in 70 countries and nearly 10,000 more in the
United States.
Bill Austin is the founder and CEO of the Starkey
Laboratories, a hearing aid company with facilities around the
world. If there is a great woman behind every great man, the
woman behind Bill Austin is his wife, Tani. “I feel I was meant
to be with and work with Bill all my life,” says Tani, who works
right beside him on his mission trips. The couple is the driving
force behind The Starkey Hearing Foundation, founded in
1983 to promote hearing-health awareness and provide
hearing aids, hearing aid batteries, and other hearing products
to needy persons. Since its inception, the Foundation has
furnished hundreds of thousands of hearing aids at no charge
to the recipients.
From dirt roads in underdeveloped countries, to the glitz and
glamour of Hollywood, on to the White House, common folk,
celebrities, and dignitaries – all seek Bill Austin's expertise to
see to their hearing needs. Over the years, Austin has provided
five of the last seven presidents, including Ronald Reagan,
with hearing devices. His celebrity clients are among the
Who’s Who of business moguls and entertainment and sports
legends: Walter Cronkite, Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, and
Leslie Nielsen, racing icons Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser, and
Richard Petty, and sports greats Arnold Palmer, Willie Mays,
Stan Musial, and Bob Feller.
Some of the Austins’ celebrity friends help them raise
millions for the Foundation when they hold their annual “So
the World May Hear” Awards Gala in St. Paul, Minnesota.
This star-studded event brings together an international group
of long-standing supporters from every corner of the world to
help raise the much-needed funds to benefit Bill and Tani’s
dream that every child may hear. Gala headliners have included
Sir Elton John, Garth Brooks, and Trisha Yearwood, who
were so touched by the efforts of the Austins’ to help children,
they also made generous donations.
“Of course, its fun to help a star,” Bill says, “but the best is to
see a child react when he first hears. It’s like you flipped a
switch and let them hear the world.” He and Tani can cite
many such moments, each child with his own special story. “Try to imagine what life is like without hearing. You are
disconnected from the world. Sound is the very fabric of life
and the ear is the road to the heart.”
“Hearing is the basis for language development, so we try to
reach hearing-impaired kids as early as possible. We do it
because the children especially need this; it helps them
become all they can be for our world,” says Bill. “What we are
privileged to see is remarkable. Nothing compares to watching
the reaction of a person’s face when he begins to hear.”
When asked by other charities for support outside of the
hearing arena, the Austins are often first to give generously of
their time and money to help.“This is the best work we could ever do,” the couple says,“because it’s helping people, and that’s what life is all about.
We truly live through what we give – we live on into the future
through our gifts back into our community and to humanity.” |
