The Starkey Hearing Foundation Debut's Oregon Mission Sunday, October 31st, on ABC's 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Collaborating with ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," the Starkey Hearing Foundation fit over 500 free hearing aids, with a total value of 1.5 million, to students, family members, faculty and alumni from the Oregon School for the Deaf in Salem. The mission was part of an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition production that will air on Sunday, October 31st.  

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While contractors and designers constructed a special surprise for the School, the Starkey Hearing Foundation surprised students and faculty members with a one week vacation in the Twin Cities. Students received free state-of-the-art hearing devices and enjoyed some of the Twin Cities most popular attractions; a Minnesota Twins game, the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Mall of America, Wabasha Street Caves, a Mississippi dinner cruise aboard the Jonathon Padelford , Valley Fair and tours of St. Paul and Fort Snelling were some of the highlights.  Members of the OSD Football team were equally thrilled to be greeted at Starkey by Minnesota Vikings players, including Adrian Peterson.

"We always go where we can help and this project seemed perfect," said Bill Austin, of the Starkey Hearing Foundation. "These are great kids and we knew we could improve hearing for most of them. It also made sense to bring the students to Minnesota where we could address their hearing issues with maximum resources at our disposal in addition to creating a fun adventure for them in the Twin Cities."

Patti Togioka, Director of the Oregon School for the Deaf shared, "The Starkey Hearing Foundation is a truly amazing group of caring people.  The students, alumni, staff and the Oregon Deaf Community are blessed by their generosity and cannot adequately express our deep gratitude."

"We have become quite familiar with the amazing mission work of the Starkey Hearing Foundation," said Brady Connell, Executive Producer, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." "Their generous contributions to this project have made it uniquely special for everyone involved."

The Emmy award winning reality program "Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition," in its 8th season, is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding.  Its executive producers are Brady Connell and George Verschoor.  David Goldberg is Chairman, Endemol North America. The show airs Sundays from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET on ABC.

SOURCE Starkey Hearing Foundation