2023 Hear for the Holidays – And the Winners Are…

We joined in with Hear for the Holidays in 2023 to help give back to our community and provide the gift of hearing to those individuals who need it most, but couldn’t previously get it.

We gave you the opportunity to nominate a loved one with hearing loss challenges who didn’t have the chance to seek out professional hearing care – whether out of a selfless need to help others first, financial constraints, or other factors.

Based on your nominations, we picked two winners to each receive a comprehensive hearing assessment and complimentary hearing aids, just in time to rejoin the conversation around them for the holidays.

We were overwhelmed by how many amazing stories were submitted, and it was difficult to pick just two, but we finally narrowed them down to find our 2023 Hear for the Holidays winners.

Our First Winner Is Yvonne Whitlock!

Yvonne’s nomination came from her friend Anne, who shared her touching story with us:

Yvonne Whitlock instructs many people, young and old, including me, in yoga and flexibility classes at University Settlement and GoodLife Fitness, and is on call at the University of Toronto. She is an award-winning teacher, as well as a gracious and empathetic woman. Yvonne gives so much of herself, helping me and others to accomplish things we didn’t think we and our bodies were capable of. Her classes make us feel great, physically and mentally, thanks to her encouragement, leadership, and life-long experience.

Yvonne is 82, way past the age when most of us retire and stop exercising, but she continues to share her wealth of experience in ways that will improve our well-being. She does this not only out of her desire to give to the community and her commitment to the ongoing mobility and flexibility of her students, but also out of financial necessity, as she is self-supporting.

Recently Yvonne was tested and learned that her hearing was less than optimum. Hearing aids were recommended, an unwelcome expense but one that is necessary for her to continue working with and communicating fully with her students, colleagues, and administrative personnel. Yvonne is the worthiest possible recipient to benefit from this initiative on the part of Hearing Aid Source, the gift of hearing that will enable her to fully enjoy her students’ enthusiastic responses at the end of each class when she says, “And now I hope you feel much better.”

When I discussed this with Yvonne, she was so pleased. Her immediate generous response was, “I will give a free yoga session to everyone at Hearing Aid Source, and their clients.” That’s Yvonne!

Yvonne’s nomination showed that she was a perfect fit for one of our winners. Her selflessness, kindness, and ambition stuck with us – and not just because of the free yoga session!

Our Second Winner Is Jolfai Amirkhanian!

Jolfai was nominated by his friend Edward. He previously came in for a consultation after realizing he was struggling with his hearing, but after seeing what sort of treatment would work best for his hearing loss challenge, he unfortunately couldn’t afford it at the time.

Edward’s nomination for Jolfai is a story that we see all too often; hearing care can be expensive, and it shouldn’t be out of reach for those who can’t afford it.

We have multiple support programs available to help you get the hearing care you need. Take a look on our website to see if one could be of service to you, and we’ll work with you to provide the best care for your budget.

Jolfai now has the hearing aids he needs, and his hearing is all the better for it.