When asked why she donates to Deafness Research Foundation (DRF), 89-year-old Bernice Booth answers simply, “Well, I want to help.” Her generosity is fueled by desire to alleviate the suffering of other people with hearing loss.
Booth, who grew up in rural Ohio, says hearing loss was prevalent on her father’s side. Booth developed it after her bout with scarlet fever when she was in the fifth grade.
“I don’t want people to go through what I did because you are limited in your social life,” Booth said. “In school, I had to sit close to the front. I knew I needed a hearing aid but it’s one of those things you keep putting off when you’re young.” It wasn't until after she was married that Booth finally got fitted for a hearing aid.
Booth expected she would have to use a two-piece hearing aid unit but was pleasantly surprised. “They fitted me for one that had [the hearing aid and battery separate]. But what they delivered was the first hearing aid that was one complete unit. ... It was the size of a deck of cards and women were supposed to wear it on their bras. I’m not sure where the men wore theirs, probably in their shirt pocket.” Fortunately, the hearing aids that Booth used progressively got smaller, culminating with the one she wears behind her ear today.
Booth has become more comfortable with wearing hearing aids and appreciates the technological advances that have made hearing aids more acceptable and convenient. A move to Florida acquainted Booth with more people who wear hearing aids.
“After I came to Florida, I discovered that so many people wear hearing aids. The aids are smaller, they’re better and the batteries last longer. There isn’t that feeling of wearing a hearing aid like there used to be. There has been good progress. People feel less negative about [it]. Here, it has become so common. Every time I go to church, I see people in front of me wearing them or adjusting them.”
Recognizing the essential role of research in the progress of technology that has eased her own circumstances, Booth donates generously to DRF. “I’ve always been interested in reading what they have been doing,” Booth says, “especially things for children. They are doing wonders for children, which I am very happy to read about.”
Though keenly interested in children, Booth never had any of her own because a doctor advised her that her children would inherit her hearing loss.
Booth has long-term plans to continue her support of DRF – even after she is unable to write the check herself. “It is wonderful the progress that you have made,” Booth says. “I’ve got you in my will. I don’t regret a dime I have spent on DRF. My number one goal is to help you folks.”
Jordan Bass is an intern with Hearing Health magazine and will graduate from the University of the Ozarks in December with a bachelor’s in communications. A Nebraska native, Jordan will be married in December.
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