St. Petersburg, FL (August 2023) – Sounding Joy, a Tampa Bay area charity whose mission is to ignite joy by providing hearing aids to local children whose families cannot afford them, announces the date for its second annual charity golf tournament.
The Sounding Joy HEAROS Golf Tournament will take place on October 14, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. at Tampa’s Westchase Golf Club. The shotgun scramble tournament will feature a hole-in-one grand prize with a value of at least $35,000, as well as various closest-to-the-pin competitions with prizes. The event will also feature raffles, breakfast, and lunch.
The organization is seeking tournament sponsors and raffle/prize donations. Sponsorship packages at all levels still exist. A complete list of sponsorship opportunities and pricing is available on the event’s website.
Player spots remain; however, the organization caps the number of player spots in order to maintain a smooth pace of play and elevated player experience. Interested players can register at soundingjoy.org.
Current sponsors include Pinnacle Home Care, Mills Mehr & Associates, I Fix Hearts, Rivero, Gordimer & Company, and Thompson Marketing Partners.
Last year’s inaugural golf tournament exceeded fundraising goals, raising almost $65,000.
The need: Three in 1000 children are born with hearing impairment in one or both ears. Due to the isolation hearing loss causes, hearing-impaired children without a hearing aid are twice as likely to become addicted to drugs or alcohol and more than five times as likely to attempt suicide. Untreated hearing loss is linked to other health conditions such as dementia, depression, high blood pressure and increased risk of trips and falls. Untreated hearing loss even reduces earning potential by $12,000 to $30,000 per year.
Most major insurance policies do not cover hearing aids.
Founder’s Story: At the age of 11, Christy Vogel was told two things: that she was hearing impaired (probably since birth) and that she had taught herself how to read lips without realizing it. “I didn’t get hearing aids because we couldn’t afford them. And, because I had to otherwise figure out what people were saying, many assumed I was slow or stupid,” says Vogel, founder and chairman of the charity. “When I finally could afford hearing aids – when I was in my 20s – it changed my world.” She feels that she was supposed to be born hearing impaired and unable to afford hearing aids so that she could eventually help others; thus, Sounding Joy was born.
About Sounding Joy
Sounding Joy, Inc., is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded by Christy Vogel to help people with mild to moderate permanent hearing loss who don’t qualify for financial assistance or cannot afford hearing aid technology. It partners with Hillsborough and Pinellas County Schools, Tampa Children’s ENT and AudConnex to provide professionally fitted and programmed hearing aids to those who can’t otherwise get them so they can reach their full potential. All donations are fully tax-deductible. For more information, visit SoundingJoy.org, email info@SoundingJoy.org or call 813-526-1870.