Hearing Charities of America and Sertoma Inc. President Darryl Ching presented a $6,000 donation to HEARS of El Paso County Inc. in a presentation ceremony on Feb. 24.

Sertoma Inc. is a national service organization headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, that focuses on hearing loss, awareness, and education to minimize behaviors that may cause hearing loss.

HEARS is a local 501©(3) charitable organization that provides hearing aids to U.S. citizens of El Paso County who cannot afford them. HEARS was first formed by local Sertoma Clubs of Colorado Springs in 1988. HEARS is managed/operated by volunteers from Woodmen Valley, Austin Bluffs, Colorado Springs and Gleneagle Sertoma clubs. These local Sertoma clubs hold annual charity fundraisers such as golf tournaments, auctions and 5K runs to raise money for HEARS.

HEARS was re-incorporated in 2020 as a 501©(3) with deductible charity status from the Internal Revenue Service and is registered with the Colorado Secretary of State. Serving 70 or more low-income clients each year, HEARS partners with several local audiologists who do the testing, ordering, and fitting of the hearing aids. All-volunteer, HEARS maintains extremely low expenses by utilizing office space provided free by Mission Medical Center. HEARS can boast that they have an audiologist on their all-volunteer board to advise on treatment and technical decisions and help to manage costs.

HEARS uses standard Federal Income Guidelines to determine qualification and how much subsidy is provided. Except for a low application fee, most hearing aids are provided at no cost to clients. HEARS has served over 2,300 clients from age 2 to folks in their 90s.

Further information is available on our website, hearscosp.weebly.com. Donations can be made by check and mailed to HEARS of El Paso County, 2125 East LaSalle Street L-32, Colorado Springs, CO 80909.