Christy Vogel honored as Lightning Community Hero

TAMPA, FL – The Tampa Bay Lightning honored Christy Vogel as the Lightning Community Hero this evening during the first period of tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers. Vogel, who received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, presented by Jabil, will donate the money to Sounding Joy and The Rotary Club of Tampa.

Vogel is a fierce advocate for children who are hearing-impaired. Growing up hearing-impaired herself, she has a unique understanding of the challenges children face. In March 2021, she founded Sounding Joy, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide hearing aids to hearing-impaired children across the bay area. In her research, she has found between 1,845 and 2,767 children in Tampa Bay are hearing impaired, and of that number over 24% come from Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed (ALICE) families who do not qualify for free hearing aids through Medicaid. With the extreme expenses of hearing aids, between $2,000-$6,000 a pair with replacements needed every three years, many children have to go without. Luckily, Vogel and Sounding Joy have been able to work with Tampa Children’s ENT to provide pro bono medical assessments and recommend appropriate hearing aids, which they then donate to these children. Last year, Vogel and Sounding Joy were able to donate 40 hearing aids to children throughout Tampa Bay and anticipate donating an additional 50 by May of 2024.

The funds from tonight’s grant will be used to continue to further the unique missions of Sounding Joy and The Rotary Club of Tampa. This grant will allow Sounding Joy to continue to help the children in our area that are hearing impaired get hearing aids and maintain up-to-date aids as they grow. The Rotary Club will donate the money to two separate projects. The first will be awarded to Sounding Joy, and the second will be invested into a community project which will benefit children in the Tampa Bay region.

Vogel became the 574th Lightning Community Hero since Jeff and Penny Vinik introduced the Lightning Community Hero program in 2011-12 with a $10 million, five-season commitment to the Tampa Bay community. Through tonight’s game, in total, the Lightning Foundation has granted $31.07 million to nearly 750 unique nonprofits in the Greater Tampa Bay area. During the summer of 2021, the Viniks announced that the Community Hero program will give away another $10 million over the next five seasons.