Hearing aids cost thousands new, which makes a donated pair one of the most valuable small objects you can give, and one of the few charities can actually recycle into working devices for people who cannot afford them. The two main routes are a national mail-in program and the same Lions Club collection boxes that take eyeglasses, so you can often donate both in one trip. Here is where they go and how the tax deduction works.
Hear Now, run by the Starkey Hearing Foundation, is the main national mail-in program. It accepts hearing aids of any make, model, or age, working or not, refurbishes what it can, and uses the proceeds and devices to provide hearing aids to people in the US who cannot afford them. Mail donations to: Starkey Hearing Foundation, ATTN: Hearing Aid Recycling, 6700 Washington Avenue South, Eden Prairie, MN 55344, and include your name and address to receive a tax receipt.
The Lions Clubs' recycling program accepts hearing aids at many of the same collection boxes that take eyeglasses, found in libraries, banks, clinics, and optical shops. If you are already dropping off old eyeglasses, check whether your local box takes hearing aids too; many do, and one trip handles both. For shipping rather than drop-off, Lions typically point donors to national mail-in programs.
Many audiology practices collect used hearing aids for refurbishing programs and patient-assistance funds, and some manufacturers run trade-in or donation channels through clinics. If you are being fitted for new aids, ask the clinic to take the old pair; it is the zero-effort route, and the clinic handles where they go.
Some state assistive-technology reuse programs and local loan closets accept hearing aids alongside wheelchairs and walkers, matching them to people in the community. See our guide to donating medical equipment for how to find the reuse program in your state.
Last updated June 2026. Errors: [email protected]
A new pair of hearing aids runs from about a thousand to several thousand dollars, and Medicare generally does not cover them, which leaves millions of people, especially seniors on fixed incomes, priced out of hearing. That gap is exactly what refurbishing programs fill: a donated aid is cleaned, repaired, reprogrammed for a new wearer by professionals, and dispensed through assistance programs. Your drawer of outdated aids is inventory for that system, and unlike most donations, even broken units carry value as parts.
The practical choice: Hear Now's mail-in accepts everything and generates a clean tax receipt by return mail, best for higher-value or multiple aids. Lions boxes are effortless if one sits on your errand route, and they feed regional refurbishing pipelines, best for convenience. Audiology clinics are best at trade-in time. All three end in the same place, a refurbished device on someone who needs it, so pick by convenience rather than agonizing over the destination.
Hearing aids are one of the few household donations where the value justifies careful paperwork. Note the brand, model, and age, photograph the devices, and keep the receipt from the receiving charity. Fair market value for a working recent pair can run into the hundreds; if your total noncash donations top $500 for the year, IRS Form 8283 applies. Our donation value guide covers the documentation rules in detail.
Hearing aids most often become available when a parent or spouse passes, and donating them is a common part of settling an estate. There is no rush: programs accept aids of any age, so this can wait until you are ready. Check the case for spare batteries and accessories, and consider donating alongside the person's eyeglasses and mobility equipment, the three together are the standard estate-donation trio, and this site has a guide for each.