Edmond run benefits children who have hearing loss

EDMOND — The 5K Hearts for Hearing Spring Classic will be May 16 at Mitch Park, with proceeds benefiting Oklahoma children with hearing loss.

The event also will feature a 1-mile fun run and a free 150-foot race for children. Cost is $25 before April 25 and $30 after. Participants will receive a free T-shirt.

Registration for the sanctioned and certified USA Track and Field race is at www.heartsforhearing

.org, or runners may register at 7 a.m. the day of the event. The 5K starts at 8 a.m.

The event’s beneficiary, Hearts for Hearing Foundation based in Oklahoma City, is a nonprofit organization that provides funding for hearing technology and financial assistance for audiological, habilitation and educational services for children with significant hearing loss.

Joanna Smith, Hearts for Hearing chief executive officer, said the high cost of technology and the lack of coverage by insurance providers prevent many babies diagnosed with hearing loss at birth from being fit with hearing aids for more than a year.

The organization aims at providing every child born with a hearing loss in Oklahoma with access to sound and the necessary auditory-verbal therapy as soon as he or she is diagnosed with a loss.

For more information about the benefit race or about Hearts for Hearing, call 548-4300 or e-mail Jessica.Ballard@heartsfor hearing.org.

Jessica Ballard is

an audiologist with

Hearts for Hearing

Foundation.