Sound Of The Holidays: Free Hearing Aids Given Out At Sacramento Hearing Center
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — One Christmas gift will keep on giving. It's the sound of the holidays at a local hearing center as recipients were being given free hearing aids.
This hearing aid is a Christmas miracle for Donna Payne, who does in-home support services for the elderly.
"It's going to be life changing for me," she said.
Donna's hearing was impacted after years of factory work, so much so, she struggled when her grandson Elijah, 19, was battling brain cancer.
"I could not hear him at the end. I could not hear him talk. I could not hear his sounds," she said as she wiped away a tear.
"Nobody should be that disconnected ever, so I'm so glad you got to us," said Betty Vosters-Kemp
Elijah's hospice workers connected Donna to the Avalon Hearing Center through the Lions Club, which partners with them on their 12 days of Christmas mission.
"They're helping us find people that just can't, that aren't connected and cannot afford to get their hearing care themselves," said.
For fourteen years now during the holidays, Avalon Hearing Center has provided 12 hearing aids at no cost in addition to long-term care.
"The hearing aids I received today are so impressive," said a woman named Denise, who was a recipient.
Donna's husband watched as she was fitted, and we were there as she heard things for the first time in many years.
"Like I can hear that tapping that my husband is doing on the desk and I've never heard that before and it makes me want to cry," said Donna.
As we were talking, Donna realized she was no longer shouting.
"It's weird, feels weird," she said.
And in that quiet moment together, Donna realized what a gift her grandson was in life and death.
"Merry Christmas, Elijah," she said softly as she wiped away a tear.