27 Sep 2019
For The Hearing House
Dressing unusually and contributing positively to your community sounds like an oxymoron – but for one day a year, the two opposites come together to accomplish something amazing – Loud Shirt Day.
This is an annual fundraising event that raises money for paediatric programmes at The Hearing House and the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme. These two charities are dedicated to helping children who are deaf and receive cochlear implants and/or hearing aids and engage in services that help them learn to listen and speak.
“Cochlear Implants can change lives - hearing is a sense that we take for granted,” says Claire Green, Chief Executive at The Hearing House. “We support the families and children who have cochlear implants. Hearing loss can be genetic but is also caused by infections and viruses such as meningitis and Cytomegalovirus.”
Encourage your colleagues, classmates, family and friends to GET LOUD this September 27th and support these programmes and the babies, toddlers and young adults they serve who are striving to overcome the consequences of hearing loss.
Although Loud Shirt Day functions primarily as a fundraising event, there’s undoubtedly perks in the deal – think of it as a free pass to commit the worst kind of fashion crimes imaginable, for one day a year.
It’s time to pull out that shirt your significant other banished to the back of the wardrobe or bring back your favourite retro shirt that hasn’t seen the light of day in 20 years. Mix orange with pink, green with purple – the louder the better!
Among those who will benefit from these outrageous fashion crimes are Rhythm Goyal, 3, Aria Taiatini and Cindy Ren, both 4 and Otis Smith, 5. These youngsters are among the hundreds of New Zealand children who come to The Hearing House and the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme for audiology and therapy services.
The services are provided for free with The Hearing House and the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme working hard to ensure that each child reaches their full potential, without being limited by their hearing loss. Many profoundly deaf children start mainstream school at the same spoken language and hearing level as their peers.
The Hearing House is based in Auckland and provides services to families living north of Turangi.
Individuals can bring a gold coin to take part in a loud dress-up day at school, businesses might hold a themed morning tea, and individuals can host a breakfast for their friends for a donation. Retirement villages could stage a fashion parade or hold a raffle.
There’s no better way to have fun and do good this September, so enlist the people around you to ensure 2019’s Loud Shirt Day raises as much money as possible for children like Rhythm, Aria, Otis and Cindy. The Hearing House and the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme work hard to make the lives of those with hearing disabilities as normal as possible, but they need your help to do so.
If you’re ready to get loud, enrol now as a team, individual, workplace, school, or sports team at https://www.loudshirtdaynz.org/register.
Give us a call, send us a message or call in and see us. We’d love to hear from you.