To celebrate the return of the music committee back to our club, I figured it was only appropriate that this week's Rotary minute should be about music! Rotary International’s Vision is, “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change; across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.” And making music is one way to brighten the world!
The organization “Music Mends Minds” was featured in the May 2022 Edition of the Rotary Magazine. It's a very inspirational story of how music helps revitalize the minds of those who suffer from Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
In 2015, Amy Huggins, of the Vashon Island Washington Rotary Club, was inspired by a piece on the PBS Newshour about Music Mends Minds. That April, she flew to Los Angeles with her husband, Alan, a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, to experience the group the “5th Dementia” in rehearsal. Huggins was so touched by the music, the players and singers, and the mood-boosting effect on caregivers, that she returned and asked her Vashon Island Rotary Club to make Music Mends Minds a Community Service Project. This year, they will celebrate seven years of offering and supporting this vital weekly program!
Huggins also inspired other Rotarians to take this action to support this group in order to create lasting change in their communities. These include Mercer Island Rotary Cub at two locations, Puyallup Rotary Club, Olympia Rotary Club, Des Moines/Normandy Park Rotary Club, and two more (Maple Valley and Kirkland) beginning this year. She connected Music Mends Minds to the Alzheimer’s/Dementia Rotary Action Group and won approval in 2019 for it to be a District 5030 Project.
And that is an example of Rotarians making a difference with music! And is today’s Rotary Minute!
