KNOXVILLE — The Student Academy of Audiology (SAA) is seeking participants for its golf tournament, a fundraiser for the club’s community service work.
The tournament begins at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, at Three Ridges Golf Course. The event raises money for the Sertoma Center, a facility that serves adults with developmental disabilities, and also helps fund the SAA’s annual open house that provides free hearing and speech screenings for the community.
“We want to be able to give money away, but we also want to be able to do the things we need to,” said Alison Ward, second-year doctoral student and president of SAA. Many SAA members are from the audiology program, which is housed in Knoxville, but is now administered by the UT Health Science Center in Memphis.
Ward wants to make the golf tournament an annual event to help raise money for SAA’s volunteer efforts throughout the year.
“It’s a great fundraiser,” Ward said. “We do a fundraiser every year, but this year we’re going all out, making T-shirts and publicizing. Everyone is excited. Now that we know what we need to do, we’re hoping to do it again next year bigger and better.”
SAA members volunteer at the Sertoma Center conducting craft days and doing general yard work. Sertoma uses UT’s Hearing Services to fulfill the Tennessee mandate for yearly hearing evaluations of its residents. Ward said the money raised at the golf tournament also will help support SAA’s open house for free hearing screenings for the campus and the community.
“We usually have anywhere from 75 to 200 people, but we would like to continue to reach out to a bigger crowd,” Ward said. “We want to use some of our money raised to get the word out about this really great and fun opportunity for the community.”
The open house, along with free hearing and speech screenings, provides education on hearing loss and ear disorders. Anyone with hearing abnormalities is referred to a specialist or given information about working with the audiology department.
Sponsors for the tournament include Krispy Kreme, Regal Cinemas and Bonefish Grill, among others. Each sponsor has donated a prize package that participants can win.
So far, the tournament has 10 registered teams. The last day to register is Saturday, March 13. The entry fee is $250 per team or $65 per person. All are invited to sign up for the tournament.
For more information or inquiries about participating in the tournament, contact Alison Ward at 865-661-8182 or award13@utk.edu.
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C O N T A C T :
Bridget Hardy (865-974-2225, bhardy4@utk.edu)
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