Bemidji's D-Feet Hearing Loss walk raises money for research, technology
Jun. 5—BEMIDJI — In an effort to raise funds for the Minnesota Lions Hearing Foundation, dozens of supporters came together at Diamond Point Park on Saturday morning for Bemidji's second annual D-Feet Hearing Loss walk.
Gathered under the pavilion and dressed in brightly colored event T-shirts, attendees were welcomed by Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince before taking off on their journey.
"What a beautiful day for a walk, right? The city of Bemidji worked hard to arrange that," he said with a laugh.
He thanked the Lions for their efforts in raising funds for the cause and stressed the importance of finding solace through community involvement.
"I know we're here to raise money today and I'm excited about that," Prince noted, "but I think there's also a mutual support aspect of this for people who are dealing with hearing loss or families and friends who are."
Prince, whose two sons both deal with hearing loss, added that recent advances in hearing loss technology can be a valuable tool for families.
"When we're talking about technology, it's improved so much over the years," he said. "What our family was dealing with 20 years ago in terms of what was available and what's available now, it's really an improvement. But you've got to have funding to do that, right? Not every medical plan will cover it and not everybody has the personal resources to be able to access that technology, so organizations like the hearing foundation are so critical."
Bemidji Lion Wayne Tieman then led participants from Diamond Point Park to Paul Bunyan Park and back, all while raising a large American flag.
Upon their return to the pavilion, walkers were welcomed back with games, a hot dog lunch and live music.
According to the
World Health Organization,
more than 5% of the world's population — or 430 million people — require rehabilitation to address their hearing loss. It's estimated that by 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people will have some degree of hearing loss.
The Minnesota Lions Hearing Foundation has several initiatives in place, with the goal of helping those who experience hearing problems. Registration costs from this year's walk, which drew about 60 attendees, will support these programs.
According to Susie Balstad, Minnesota Lions Hearing Foundation 5M10 trustee, funds raised will largely go toward helping otolaryngology students with their education and renovating the Temporal Bone Dissection Lab in Minneapolis.
"We do an endowed professorship, so a person who is studying otolaryngology doesn't have to worry about where their funding is coming from for a year, they just have to work on their projects," she said. "Now we are renovating the bone lab. Those little tiny bones in your ear, the stirrup and the anvil, (the lab) can create those bones and make them work in a person whose bones don't work anymore."
Additionally, the foundation is working on increasing the accessibility to handheld hearing testing devices, which can detect when someone has hearing problems.
"It wouldn't be like we would be diagnosing something (with the devices), but we could say 'We detected something that a doctor needs to look at,'" Balstad said. "It's like another step in helping to pave the way for kids to get the help that they need, because the sooner they get that help, the better their life is."
