Lion Jill Bates, Spotsylvania Courthouse 100 Lions Club
Visit the "Listen Up!" website.
About the Program:
The objective is to educate families and communities about early childhood hearing loss and provide free hearing screenings to children 2- 5 years of age, in order to find deaf and hard of hearing children at an earlier age.
The program was launched by District 24-C in April 2025. It is being introduced with informational Road Shows that explain the structured rollout, leadership, and the recruitment and training of volunteers in our district to serve on Teams.
Program Leadership:
Program Champions:
- PCC Jean Cook -- cookjean548@gmail.com
- Lion Valerie James Abbott --valeriejamesabbott@gmail.com
24-L Regional Coordinators:
- Lion Evelyn Marr -- remlik@verizon.net
- Lion Sandy Smith -- sandyclaresmith@gmail.com
Additional Information:
- WDBJ7 News Coverage -- Groundbreaking initiative to improve access to hearing screening for kids
- HLAA Webinar -- Catching Kids Before They Fall: Pediatric Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness
- ALHA Newswire -- A National Push for Continuous Early Hearing Screening
In Our District:
This program is uniquely organized. It is not fulfilled by clubs but rather, by Teams which can be comprised of Lions from several clubs.
- Phase One: Hold Road Shows -- These are in-person or Zoom sessions of 1-1 1/2 hours explaining all the aspects of the program.
- Phase Two: Sign Up Volunteers -- Enroll people who are committed to putting the program in place.
- Phase Three: Training -- This will start in the Spring of 2026.
- Phase Four: Team Set Up -- Those trained will be assigned to Teams of about 20volunteers.
Schedule a Road Show:
To book a Road Show, contact Evelyn, Sandy, Valerie, or Jean. They are looking for a club or person to host one in Culpepper the afternoon or evening of April 25th.
Attend a Road Show:
- Saturday, March 21st in Herndon at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 651 Dranesville Road, Herndon; doors open at 1pm. Hosted by Lion Davida Luehrs, davidaluehrs@gmail.com
- Saturday, March 21st at Christ Episcopal Church, 8951 Courthouse Road, Spotsylvania; doors open at 6pm. Hosted by Spotsylvania Courthouse 100 and Lion Jill Bates, wenger1986@msn.com
- Tuesday, March 24th at Winchester Moose Lodge, 215 E. Cork Street, Winchester; doors open at 11:45am. Hosted by Lion Sandy Smith. This will take place during the regular lunch meeting of the Winchester Host Lions Club; $15 includes beverage, buffet & gratuity; Cash only. sandyclaresmith@gmail.com
- Saturday, April 11th at Lake of the Woods; doors open at 3:30pm. Hosted by both Lake of the Woods Lions and Lake of the Woods Lionesses Clubs and Lion Sheila Ryan Carney, lionsheilacarney@gmail.com
- Saturday, April 25th at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind (VSDB) in Staunton; doors open at 10:00am. Hosted by Broadway Lions and PCC John Knepper. Contact Lion Evelyn Marr remlik@verizon.net or Lion Sandy Smith sandyclaresmith@gmail.com for more information.
And, how will this be funded?
There will be opportunities for grant requests, corporate support, and club and individual sponsorships. More on this to come soon.
