More than 2,000 guests powered up Oticon’s Alternative Energy Benefit for the American Academy of Audiology Foundation (AAAF) at this year’s AudiologyNOW! Oticon, Somerset, NJ, had pledged to donate $10 to the AAA Foundation for every audiologist who attended the gala block party. The benefit, part of Oticon’s Hearing with Our Hearts initiative, featured entertainment by rock band Cheap Trick. By evening’s end, the benefit netted a $25,000 gift from Oticon to fund AAAF educational projects such as the Student Travel Award Reimbursement (STAR), which provides education opportunities for graduate students in audiology.

The company also supported the AAA Foundation’s Auction 4 Audiology with donations that included a guitar autographed by Cheap Trick, a set of Agil Pro MiniRITE hearing devices and the ConnectLine System, and a “dog pound” full of plush dogs modeled after real-life hearing and mobility assistance canines. The Cheap Trick guitar and Agil/ConnectLine package captured the number 1 and number 2 highest bids for this year’s auction, which raised more than $11,000 for the AAA Foundation.

“Oticon has been a generous and faithful supporter of the Foundation," said Cheryl Kreider Carey, executive director, in thanking Oticon President Peer Lauritsen for Oticon’s support of AAA Foundation. "Oticon’s philanthropy creates opportunities for the Foundation to do great things for the profession of audiology and those it serves…”

[Source: Oticon]