Photo via WireImage
Marlee Matlin, Starkey Hearing Foundation donation
Sunday night’s episode of “The Celebrity Apprentice” on NBC featured a pretty impressive check presentation in the amount of $1,000,000 to Bill Austin, Chief Executive Officer of Starkey Laboratories and Founder of the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Made on behalf of Donald Trump by Marlee Matlin, both of whom helped make the gift possible.
And just what, exactly, will the money go towards?
The cool million will be used to support upcoming hearing missions and provide the gift of hearing in even greater numbers. It will provide services to more adults and children in need with free hearing devices. Currently, there are Starkey Hearing Missions planned for this spring in places like Colombia, Haiti, Mexico, Israel and New York City. According the the Starkey Hearing Foundation, the $1,000,000 will provide much needed funding for the Foundation to get closer to its goal of one million free hearing aids this decade.
How awesome is that?
And if you missed the episode a few weeks ago, both teams raised an astounding amount of cash. In fact, the money donated via ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ were part of a record-breaking $1.6 million raised for charity during a single non-finale episode! The show’s two teams were assigned the task of creating and selling their own art work for charity. Marlee and Team A.S.A.P raised a whopping $986,000, with an additional $14,000 generously given by Donald Trump himself.
Bill Austin, founder of Starkey Hearing Foundation, said, “Our Foundation was built on the mission to reconnect individuals to their families, communities and the world through hearing, and these monies will go a long way in fulfilling that mission and increasing our capacity to give better hearing to those that need it the most. We are extremely grateful to our long-time friend Marlee, for making us her charity of choice in this season’s ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’, and for working so hard with her team to raise the most for any charity in the show’s history.”
The Starkey Hearing Foundation’s goal is ultimately to change the social consciousness of hearing and hearing health care, all while providing the gift of hearing to those who need it.
For more information on the Foundation, visit their website HERE. Also, check out the picture below of Bill Austin and Marlee Matlin.
