Baycrest

14 BrainMatters SPRING/SUMMER 2019 THE POWER OF GIVING impacts body, mind and soul T here are many different ways to support hospitals and foundations but every gift has a common element – they each contribute to making a powerful impact on people's lives. Unrestricted gifts allow organizations to allocate critical funding to the most urgent needs of the people they serve. You may not be able to directly see or touch the outcomes that these donations make possible, but they can be transformational. Other gifts may be designated to specific programs offered for the evidence-based benefits they provide to improve people's health and well-being. The motivation behind each gift is personal and unique, but every act of kindness is impactful and far-reaching. THE GIFT OF MUSIC The power of music can bring joy and comfort to people with dementia and to their caregivers. Research has shown that musical memories are often preserved, even when other long-term memories disappear. Cathy Wilkes couldn't agree more. Her husband, David Wilkes, 73, was diagnosed with dementia six years ago and moved to Baycrest in 2017 when she could no longer care for him at home. He now needs a wheelchair and doesn't speak but he smiles when his grandchildren visit and loves music programs and social activities. One afternoon, the Wilkeses were walking on the main floor and stopped to listen as an older man skillfully played a medley of movie and show tunes on the beautiful Steinway piano in the Silverman Garden Court. By the time he ended with the theme from "Love Story," Cathy says she felt a tear running down her face. The movie had premiered a few years after she and David married. Throughout the performance, Cathy says her husband didn't doze or get restless. "He was captivated by the passion and the artistry of the music, as was everyone in the room," she explains. The grand piano was donated by David Feldman, a long- time Baycrest supporter, in memory of his late daughter, Linda Ahuva Feldman, who died tragically in a car accident in Israel at age 29. Linda was a talented pianist who played the Steinway in the family's Toronto home before moving to Israel in the 1970s. To maintain the piano and support the Music Therapy Program at Baycrest, Feldman also established an endowment fund in Linda's name. "The reward for me is in seeing my gift give someone pleasure," says Feldman. On a visit to Baycrest one evening, he saw a man wheel his mother to the piano and press her fingers on the keys. "Her face just lit up," he recalls. "Her son told me she was a pianist and it gave her such pleasure to just feel the keys." Cathy and David Wilkes Linda Ahuva Feldman z"l "The reward for me is in seeing my gift give someone pleasure."

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