Widex USA To Donate $20,000 To Helen Keller National Center For Deaf-Blind Youth And Adults

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. - Dec. 20, 2018 - PRLog -- As part of its ongoing commitment to helping people communicate and connect, Widex USA has pledged to donate at least $20,000 in the New Year to the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults (HKNC), a division of Helen Keller Services (HKS). For every pair of WIDEX EVOKE^TM hearing aids purchased through January 31, 2019, Widex USA will donate a portion of the proceeds, with a minimum commitment of $20,000. Headquartered in Sands Point, New York, HKNC provides comprehensive vocational and independent living training to youths and adults who are deaf-blind.

"WIDEX EVOKE has been our bestselling line of hearing aids to date, and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank our customers, partners, and the hearing community for their continued support," said Jeff Geigel, President, Widex USA. "We would also like to start 2019 by giving back to an organization that for more than 50 years has worked to ensure that deaf-blind individuals in the United States, young and old, have access to the same opportunities as their hearing and sighted neighbors. Widex USA is honored to support Helen Keller National Center in their important mission."

Authorized by an Act of Congress in 1967, HKNC is the only organization of its kind that provides training and resources exclusively to people age 16 and over who have combined vision and hearing loss. According to Susan Ruzenski, Executive Director, HKNC, students travel from across the country for on-campus training in assistive technology, vocational services, orientation and mobility, communication, and independent living.

"The generous donation from Widex USA will help HKNC provide enhanced learning opportunities in our Audiology Department, Adaptive Technology Center, and Low Vision Department," Ruzenski observed. "We look forward to purchasing a new computer for the Audiology Department which is used to program hearing aids, portable braille devices, and low vision equipment for use by the participants in the vocational rehabilitation program. Everyone at HKNC joins me in thanking Widex USA and its customers for their thoughtful, meaningful support."

About WIDEX EVOKE

Launched in May 2018, WIDEX EVOKE is the first hearing aid developed to meet the wearer's unique listening intention in each specific moment, through a combination of automation and personalization. While automation has many benefits, it cannot meet listening expectations for all users all the time, which makes personalization in the moment key. In Widex Evoke, this personalization is delivered by SoundSense Learn, a real-time machine-learning algorithm that quickly and intuitively adjusts hearing aid parameters to meet the listening intent of the wearer in the moment. In a recent sample of WIDEX EVOKE wearers with SoundSense Learn, approximately 13,000 wearers benefitted from 33,000 individual programs using this feature. From a wearer perspective, each individual program illustrates a situation where the wearer was able to accommodate their unique listening intention and preference in real time, both customizing and improving their desired hearing experience in the moment. WIDEX EVOKE will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) January 8-11, 2019 in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, please visit: https://www.widex.com/en-us/hearing-aids/evoke-smart-hearing-aids.

About Widex

Widex believes in a world where there are no barriers to communication; a world where people interact freely, effortlessly and confidently. With 60 years' experience developing state-of-the-art technology, Widex provides hearing solutions that are easy to use, seamlessly integrated in daily life and enable people to hear naturally. As one of the world's leading hearing aid producers, Widex products are sold in more than 100 countries and employs 4,000 people worldwide. Read more at www.widex.com.

About HKNC

A division of Helen Keller Services, HKNC provides comprehensive vocational and independent living training on a national level to youths and adults who are deaf-blind.  In addition to its headquarters in Sands Point, New York, HKNC maintains 10 regional offices serving New England, Mid-Atlantic, East Central, Southwest, North Central, South Central, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Southwest, and Northwest. HKNC also partners with other agencies across the United States to build their capacity to work with individuals who are deaf-blind. For more information, visit www.helenkeller.org/hknc.

Photo Caption

Susan Ruzenski, Executive Director of Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults (HKNC), takes Widex USA executives Cheryl Anderson and Michael Tease on a tour of their facilities in Sands Point, N.Y., demonstrating how the Widex donation will be used to expand and update HKNC technology.