Stars line up for hearing fundraiser

ST. PAUL, Minn., July 15 (UPI) -- Elton John, Billy Crystal, Tony Bennett and Gladys Knight helped the Starkey Hearing Foundation raise more than $5 million at a Minnesota gala, organizers said.

The celebrities took part in the foundation's ninth annual So the World May Hear awards ceremony Sunday at the St. Paul RiverCentre.

The money raised will enable the foundation to distribute 50,000 hearing aids to children around the world who need them, the organization said.

"What a line-up, and what a magnificent evening of entertainment, celebration and generosity," William F. Austin, founder of Starkey Hearing Foundation, said in a statement.

Austin praised those who helped the foundation in its goal to "allow us to open the world as we know it -- a world of music, laughter, language, and love -- to kids all over the world by giving them the gift of hearing."