Life Hearing & Balance’s ‘Hitting for Hearing’ raises $3,700 for hearing impaired

On Saturday, Jan. 4,  Twinsburg-based Life Hearing & Balance held a volleyball tournament in collaboration with the hard-of-hearing communities at Force Volleyball in Eastlake in an effort to raise money for the hearing impaired.

Dubbed ‘Hitting for Hearing’, the event was a success, garnering 26 teams and 104 participants, and funding the ultimate goal of fitting hearing aids for one deserving hearing loss patient in need. In addition to the $3,700 raised for the fitting, a pair of hearing aids were donated.

A collaboration between , Sydney Trathen, a doctorate of audiology graduate student at University of Akron, Life Hearing & Balance’s Dr. Patricia Stofiel, the Northeast Ohio Au.D. Consortium (NOAC), and the Student Academy of Audiology, the event was the first of its kind, pairing volleyball and hearing health, to happen in Ohio.

“I’m now at a point in my career where I can give back,” said Dr. Stofiel. “And I like to sponsor philanthropy I believe in. I didn’t have a lot of time to do it as a student. But now I have the time and ability to give back to the program that helped me develop who I am today.”

For more information on how to get involved with future ‘Hitting for Hearing’ events, email Sydney Trathen at st176@zips.uakron.edu. To donate to past or future fundraisers, visit mylifehearing.com.