Auralex Donates To Local VFW Post

Auralex Acoustics is hugely supportive of our country’s veterans and those currently serving in the military. We enjoy any opportunity to show that commitment, and recently got to do so by donating materials and labor at the Greenwood Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5864.

According to an analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, veterans are 30 percent more likely than nonveterans to have severe hearing impairment. In addition, the veteran population is getting older (average age: 58 years old) and with age comes hearing loss.VFW Post 5864 moved into a new 12,000-square-foot facility in 2019 to facilitate its growing membership (approximately 950) but with a new building came new challenges. “Our bar room area and our banquet room had echoes and it was extremely hard to hold meetings or even talk while in a meeting,” Commander Steve Milbourn said. “We knew we needed to do something.”

Post 5864 was over-budget for the year, however, so Milbourn turned to Sertoma Club, who holds meetings at the VFW facility (Milbourn is also a member). Sertoma is a national service organization that helps educate the public on hearing health and provides assistance to help those with hearing loss.

Sertoma got in touch with us at Auralex. While acoustical equipment is only part of the equation to better hearing, Auralex wants to play its part to help. Studies have shown that acoustical treatments can greatly aid in speech intelligibility. Auralex staff helped install approximately $18,000 of donated material, primarily custom ProPanels.

“The donation will attract more people to rent our banquet room and bring in others to enjoy themselves, earning additional money to allow us to continue operating,” Milbourn said.Like many businesses, VFW Post 5864 has seen a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was shut down from March to mid-May and while the kitchen is doing OK, revenues from the bar are usually higher.

In addition to our recent donation of products and labor to Greenwood VFW Post 5864, we have a standing discount policy of 10 percent off for veterans and current military members.