Les Paul Foundation and Eric Clapton

In 1995, Les Paul, musician and inventor, established the Les Paul Foundation, which was designed to remain dormant until his death. The mission of the Foundation is to honor and share the life, spirit and legacy of Les Paul by supporting music education, engineering, and innovation as well as medical research.

https://www.lespaulfoundation.org

"The Hearing Health Foundation, headquartered in New York, NY, is the largest nonprofit supporter of hearing research. The Les Paul Foundation Award for Tinnitus Research is awarded annually to the most promising researcher studying the cause of ringing in the ears. This year’s recipient is Julia Campbell, Ph.D, Au.D, CCC-A, F-AAA, Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders at The University of Texas at Austin, who said:

“I am deeply honored to have received a grant award from the Les Paul Foundation to study brain function in the perception of tinnitus. Tinnitus is a disorder that affects millions of people around the world, and yet we still have no way to measure this disorder or a cure for it. Les Paul was an innovator, a dreamer, and a doer who loved to bring new sound into people’s lives. I believe that his legacy is an inspiration to not only better understand tinnitus, but to use this knowledge to improve the quality of life in those it affects.”​

Wouldn't it be grand if other musician's, especially those with tinnitus, stepped up and funded some tinnitus research? Les Paul had an estimated net worth of 10 Million USD. By comparison Eric Clapton's is estimated at 250MM. (Not really a fair comparison since Les Paul died in 2009.) While Clapton supports charities and causes, hearing health and tinnitus doesn't seem to be one of them. https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/eric-clapton. Is it just that no one has asked? Not knowing anything about fundraising, would an organization like TRI, Tinnitus Hub, the Hearing Health Foundation, BTA or ATA be in a position to make the request?

Interestingly, Clapton played a Gibson Les Paul Model Guitar.

TC