“I believe in challenging myself to do things that may be out of my comfort zone or push my limits. The last time I ran a half marathon, I told myself I would never do that again! Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you ask), I am easily convinced, and my sister, who works for ESPN, suggested we push ourselves to run another. I let her decide the marathon since her goal is to run a marathon in every state (something I will not join her in), and she picked a meeting point of Lake George, NY.

At first, my goal was similar to my last half marathon: FINISH! It wasn’t until I reflected on my time at Centers for Hearing Care that I realized I needed to run for another purpose.  I am blessed to have the ability to enjoy the everyday senses in life like running and hearing the cheers and encouragement from the crowd, yet so many people are not as fortunate.

I am running to share my experience with locally, nationally, and internationally hearing impaired persons who don’t have the opportunity to hear the encouragement from their loved ones or strangers due to financial limitations. Thanks to the Hearing Missions Foundation, I will be able to run for a cause I live everyday for: the ability for every person in the world to be able to hear the cheers of their loved ones! Help me help the world to hear!!! “

 -Dr. Jessica Hoefler