Superstar Trisha Yearwood Joins William Austin's Starkey Hearing Foundation Mission to Mexico: Bringing Hearing to 1000 Underprivileged Children

HOLLYWOOD, CA. (Starkey Hearing Foundation) - Country superstar Trisha Yearwood canceled plans this week in order to travel along with William Austin, head of the Starkey Hearing Foundation, and a dozen volunteers (including doctors and audiologists) to give the gift of hearing to over 1000 underprivileged children in Guadalajara and Marida, Mexico.
"I can't imagine not being able to hear music," says Yearwood. "When you see these people hear for the first time, especially the children, and you see their faces light up and smile; it's a real blessing to be a part of this."
"Nothing compares to watching a child's reaction when he or she is able to hear for the first time," says Austin. "It's like you turned on a light switch and now they are part of our world."

The Starkey Hearing Foundation, started in 1973, has donated more than 120,000 hearing aids to people who cannot afford them. Austin, one of the country's leading philanthropists, travels around the world with his Hearing Corps volunteers, on self-financed missions, fitting people for hearing devices and "fixing broken ears." In fact, he's often called the "Santa Claus of Hearing."

Austin advocates fitting a hearing-impaired child with hearing aids as early as possible, even infancy. Without sound stimulus, Austin explains, certain centers of the brain do not develop normally and a child will have difficulty learning to speak.

Austin owns and operates Starkey Laboratories, the largest hearing aid manufacturer in North America. His contact with celebrities alone could fill a book. He has personally fitted four presidents with hearing aids: Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., and Bill Clinton. Austin has also provided hearing assistance to renowned people including Billy Graham, Steve Martin, Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Walter Cronkite, Norman Schwarzkopf, Sidney Sheldon, Buzz Aldrin, Marlee Matlin, and Former Miss America Heather Whitestone, among many others.