LAKEWOOD — The month of May will bring a special focus on the hearing impaired in the community. The Township Committee has declared May as Better Hearing and Speech Month. In a proclamation, Mayor Raymond Coles cited statistics that more than 28 million Americans are hard of hearing or deaf and that wearing a hearing aid may help an estimated 90 percent of those.
"We want to create awareness of the extent of hearing impairment in our community and the fact that there is help for people with hearing loss," Coles said.
He pointed out that thousands of adults and children in Lakewood "suffer the hardships of that loss in their interaction with family, friends and community." He cited the significant number of late-deafened adults who are a part of Lakewood’s large senior population.
The proclamation recognizes three organizations for their service to people with hearing loss. The Hear We Are and Hear Now clubs in Original Leisure Village and Leisure Village were cited for their programs of education and support to hearing impaired residents in their villages. The Lakewood Lions Club was also recognized for its contributions and assistance programs to residents in need of hearing aids and such hearing programs as those at Kimball Medical Center.
Receiving the proclamation on behalf of their organizations were Dominick Bon-giorno, president of the Hear Now Club in Leisure Village East; Martin Warren, president of the Hear We Are Club in Original Leisure Village; and Victor Sbailo, president of the Lakewood Lions.