Staff at Long & McQuade believe in the healing power of music and want to make a difference through the sixth annual Music Therapy Fundraising Drive.
A countrywide campaign, the drive runs until Dec. 31 with proceeds locally going to the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation.
Music enthusiasts making a donation will receive a $5 rental gift certificate, and decorative tin boxes for gift cards are also on sale.
Staff at the Nanaimo Long & McQuade are directing their efforts toward child life services in the pediatric unit at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
“Music can make a difference to the health of children,” said Kelly Raymond, child life specialist. “It is a way to communicate emotions and also interact with other young people facing similar health issues. It is therapeutic and sometimes the first time a young person has had a hands-on experience with music.
Long & McQuade donated guitars and ukuleles to the hospital earlier this year when a client staying in hospital reported that there was only a single broken guitar in the unit.
When Raymond stopped by the Nanaimo store on Comox Road to discuss the music drive, staff surprised her with an electric keyboard to add to the instruments already donated.
Jason Friesen, Nanaimo store manager, said it’s their way of giving to the community and ensuring children and youth have an opportunity to feel the healing power of music.
“Our network of musicians in Nanaimo and Victoria are a compassionate group who will see the importance of supporting this undertaking,” he said.
For more information on the event, please go to www.long-mcquade.com.