Support Music Therapy Awareness Month across Canada this March

[A guest post by Mathew Kahansky. – AC]

When you’re having an off day, do you ever turn to music to get you back in the mood? Spin your favourite record or fire up your favourite streaming service to turn things around?

The folks at Vancouver-based charity Music Heals are all about musical therapy, and especially at this time of year – March is Music Therapy Awareness Month!

Music Heals works to increase patient access to music therapy across all kinds of healthcare: children’s hospitals, seniors’ homes, autism spectrum care and more – and you can pitch in during March.

Music Heals is holding events right across the country in support of the month, and while you can read all of the details at musicheals.ca, read on below for an overview of Music Therapy Awareness Month’s highlights.

Did you go out on Saturday?

March’s main event was the fifth annual A Night Out for Music Heals, happening this Saturday March 4^th. Over 80 venues in 30 cities across Canada donated $1 per guest to Music Heals for the night.

Recycle your iPod!

Every Long & McQuade location in Canada is collecting good-as-new iPods as part of the Music Heals iPod Pharmacy program. The iPods are donated to music therapists who pass on hours of musical entertainment to patients, such as those waiting for treatment or sitting through difficult procedures. Don’t worry about donating old earbuds though – they’ve got them covered! You can find a local Long & McQuade location at this website.

Do some shopping!

Speaking of earbuds, if you’re in need of some new tech for your tunes swing on by Skullcandy’s online store this month. 10% of all headphone, speakers and accessories sold on Skullcandy.ca during March will go towards Music Heals. Also, if you’re in British Columbia or Alberta, $1 from every bottle sold of Tempo Renovo gin will go towards music therapy programs in those provinces.

Stretch those Twitter fingers!

If you can’t make it out to a show or don’t have an iPod to spare, you can still get involved! Follow along on social media with #MusicMakesMe to join the conversation, and don’t forget to check out @musicheals_ca on Twitter and Instagram for more.