Supporting the Sanneh Foundation

Hundreds of kids from across the Twin Cities came together this week to take part in the Sanneh Foundation’s Health and Wellness Summit in St. Paul.

It was incredible to watch as these kids, all with various levels of hearing loss, joined together to take part in a variety of activities designed to educate and encourage interaction. Activities ranged from soccer and yoga to learning about summer safety in their community.

“It’s all about accommodating the different needs of children,” Tony Sanneh, founder of the Sanneh Foundation said. “We work to create an environment that makes them all feel included, which helps them interact. That makes the activities more fun as well as ultimately leads to better learning.”

Starkey Hearing Foundation is very happy to help support this event, including helping to provide American Sign Language interpreters to translate for the children.

One of the things that stood out to us at the summit was large amount of communication taking place. Whether through audible communication, ASL, or very often both at the same time, it was great to see so many children constantly communicating with others with hearing loss.

Several event staff talked to us about how these students can often feel isolated in their school, so it was touching to see them interacting in such an inclusive manner.

Starkey Hearing Foundation will continue to support the Sanneh Foundation, including soccer camps designed specifically for children in the Twin Cities who have hearing loss, throughout the summer. We look forward to seeing the stories of more children positively interacting.

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