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The Gardens' music therapy program still growing

The Qualicum Beach facility recently received a grant for its Music Heals program
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The Gardens at Qualicum Beach recently received a second grant to secure its music therapy program.

The $13,000 grant was from the Music Heals Charitable Foundation which was formed to help raise awareness of the healing powers of music and to help fundraise for music therapy and related services across Canada.

Music Heals is a registered charity that funds programs serving children, seniors, palliative care, the autism spectrum, burn units, dementia, bereavement, rehabilitation and more. Their mission is to support a wide range of music therapy services with ongoing funding for agencies that develop and use it.

Music has been used throughout human history to express and affect human emotion. Many cultures are steeped in musical traditions. It can change mood, have stimulant or sedative effects, and alter physiologic processes such as heart rate and breathing.

This year's grant built on the $10,000 received in 2015 and secures a broader reach for programming and instrument purchase for The Gardens residents on the complex care floor.

The connections made within the brain and heart during these sessions are remarkable and add a calm and peace to people who are part of the innovative therapy.

To give back to this charity The Gardens held a 'Beer and Burger' fundraiser at Thalassa Restaurant on March 11 where $1,500 was raised for Music Heals. Many other fundraisers were held to support this charity throughout March which is music therapy month across Canada.

Attended by staff, residents, family, friends and the wider community the event, complete with silent auction and a 50/50, draw was a beautiful success. For more information about Music Heals visit www.musicheals.ca and to learn more about the music therapy program at The Gardens contact Lyndsay Boers.

— NEWS Staff/The Gardens