In years to come, numerous patients at St. Mary’s Medical Center (SMMC) will benefit from a recent charitable gift from the Beltone Hearing Care Foundation: hearing aids that enabled a student at the St. Mary’s Center for Education to continue their studies.
“It’s always a gift to help someone who’s devoted their life to helping others or is beginning their time in helping others,” said Amanda Bonner, hearing specialist at Beltone Hearing Aid Center in Huntington. “It was amazing to watch this young student’s face light up when they realized the things they had been missing.”
The nursing student wasn’t the only beneficiary of Beltone’s generosity. Just after granting the student’s request, the company’s foundation approved an application for hearing aids for two Sisters serving with the Pallottine Missionary Sisters at SMMC.
During 2024, the Beltone Hearing Care Foundation helped 291 Tri-State Area residents obtain testing, hearing aids, and servicing. Applicants come from various backgrounds, such as those who rely on modest Social Security payments or other fixed incomes and have exhausted their resources, Bonner said.
“I have a soft spot in my heart to help people,” said Bonner, who received an award in 2023 from the International Society for the Hearing Impaired. “I always encourage people to come to Beltone because we have affordable options, payment options, and the foundation to help individuals.”
Based in Chicago with operations across North America and 40 other nations, Beltone’s foundation has a committee that meets monthly to review applications. None of the Tri-State Area applications have ever been denied, said Bonner, a third-generation hearing care practitioner.
Bonner called the foundation’s initiative a tremendous program that affords people a better quality of life. She said since people hear with their brain, improving individuals’ hearing helps stimulate the brain’s center and offsets the risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other deterioration.
“I’m pretty passionate about what I do,” Bonner said.
It is that kind of passion that helps fuel charitable work in our area. Supporting students, staff, and patients can take on a variety of shapes and forms.
