Our Rotary Global Initiative
MusicMendsMinds: Empower and Educate Through Music
The alarming statistics of seniors succumbing to COVID and co-morbid neurodegenerative diagnoses have driven us to launch a new global initiative.
We are creating a global outreach network in which we educate Rotary International Clubs on the best practices of helping those with such diseases through music-making and socialization.
Through the next few years, we will run trial support bands using a global curriculum that can be tailored to fit individual/specific and cultural community needs in Rotary Clubs and Districts worldwide.
If you would like to be involved, please fill out the contact form below.
On a roll with Rotary International Clubs in 2020:
Find our recap of the 2019 Rotary Washington State Conference:
Find our recap of the 2018 Rotary International Conference:
Please find our "How to Start Your Own Band" Kit here:
MMM Global Initiative Ambassador
Amy Huggins
Vashon Island Rotary Club
"Island Rockers" Band Coordinator
In 2015, Amy Huggins 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 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 five years of offering and supporting this vital weekly program!
Huggins also inspired other Rotarians to take this action 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 into the Alzheimer’s/Dementia Rotary Action Group and won approval in 2019 for it to be a District 5030 Project.
In 2020, 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.”
For more information on how your Rotary Club can get involved please contact Amy Huggins at amyhugs@comcast.net
Our Rotary Partners
Alzheimer's/Dementia Rotary Action Group
Mission:
To leverage our members’ extensive experience, resources and the Rotary network to support and promote Alzheimer’s and dementia-related projects of all sizes at the local Rotary, district, and international level through providing a global platform for collaboration, education, and support.
International Fellowship of Rotarian Musicians
Mission:
To promote Rotary fellowship by encouraging clubs to sing, to organize musical activities for performance at all levels of Rotary functions, and to support community musical organization and school music programs.
