MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 23, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Starkey Hearing Foundation is proud to announce that Co-Founder Tani Austin has been named Female Philanthropist of the Year by the United States Federation of Middle East Peace (USFMEP). This honor is a testament to the inspiring vision, tireless commitment and selfless dedication brought forth by Austin every day. Her relentless efforts have helped Starkey Hearing Foundation provide more than 200,000 hearing aids to people in need around the world in the last year.
Austin will be honored at the First Ladies Summit on Thursday, September 24 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Nearly 300 attendees, including members of the First Ladies Forum, politicians and global dignitaries, will be on hand for the award presentation, which will be held in conjunction with the First Ladies Summit.
Jack Brewer, founder and CEO of The Jack Brewer Foundation, who has worked with Austin and Starkey Hearing Foundation around the world, nominated her for this award. Brewer is a USFMEP Ambassador for Sport and Peace.
"Tani Austin is one of the most inspiring people that I have ever met," Brewer said. "Her tireless work to bring resources to the world's poorest people should exemplify humanitarianism for generations to come."
"Starkey Hearing Foundation is committed is to helping children with hearing loss by teaching them to hear," said Austin. "Hearing is vital to education. With hearing we can create communication. With education we can create understanding. With better hearing, we help these children reach their full potential in life. We believe that to hear better is to live better."
Hearing loss affects more than 360 million people, including 32 million children worldwide, and many do not have access to hearing devices that can help them. For more than three decades, Starkey Hearing Foundation has been changing lives through hearing care, providing more than 1.8 million hearing aids to people in need. The Foundation has given more than 200,000 free hearing aids worldwide in the last year alone.
Austin and her husband, Founder William F. Austin, have made Starkey Hearing Foundation into a global leader in hearing healthcare. The Foundation builds sustainable, community-based systems of hearing healthcare around the world to empower local communities and ensure the people helped are able to achieve their full potential in life.
About Starkey Hearing Foundation
Starkey Hearing Foundation uses hearing as a vehicle to reflect caring and change lives around the world. Disabling hearing loss affects more than 360 million people, including 32 million children, worldwide, yet many do not have access to the hearing devices that can help them. As a member of Clinton Global Initiative, Starkey Hearing Foundation has pledged to provide more than one million hearing aids to people in need this decade and currently gives more than 175,000 hearing aids annually. In addition to giving the gift of hearing through worldwide hearing missions, Starkey Hearing Foundation promotes hearing health awareness and education through the Listen Carefully campaign and provides hearing instruments to low-income Americans through the Hear Now program. Started as the philanthropic effort of Starkey Hearing Technologies, Starkey Hearing Foundation was founded by William F. Austin in 1984. For more information on Starkey Hearing Foundation follow them on Facebook and Twitter, or visit www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org.
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