our mission
Jacob’s Ride for Hearing provides financial assistance to individuals that qualify and will benefit from a cochlear implant and have no health insurance coverage and cannot afford the cost of surgery.
Jacob's story
When Jacob was two, his mother felt his speech development was slow and took him for his first hearing test. Over the eight years, Jacob’s hearing continued to deteriorate. He was fitted with his first hearing aids in kindergarten; by fourth grade Jacob was functionally deaf. In 1999, at age 10 Jacob received his cochlear implant.
Fast forward in 2013. Jacob was midway through college, but at loss to determine his college major or career. He decided to "take a break" and go for a bike ride! And, what a bike ride it was - nearly 11,000 miles to all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums. His mission and purpose was to raise the awareness (and money) for cochlear implants.
During the last several years Jacob has spoken to over 250 groups (thousands of people) in 40 States. Jacob's Ride for Hearing has raised enough and paid for 20 cochlear implant surgeries.
Also, Jacob's Ride for Hearing has two additional surgeries set and funded - one during the first week of September 2022 and another in mid-October 2022.
Jacob's Ride for Hearing is a volunteer-only entity with no employees. Realistic projections are that we can afford providing financial assistance to 3-4 applicants each year.