(Santa Clara, NM) -- Music fills the hearts and minds of veterans at Fort Bayard State Veterans Home (FBSVH) - and not just any music. Personalized therapeutic music. Music that lifts the spirit and feeds the soul. Veterans residing at FBSVH are benefitting from a newly established MUSIC & MEMORYSM program, made possible by a generous gift of more than $3,000 from the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA)-New Mexico Department.

MUSIC & MEMORYSM enables those struggling with Alzheimer's, dementia and other cognitive and physical challenges to reconnect with the world through music-triggered memories. The benefits of this program can include reduced agitation, sleeplessness and depression. It can also uplift spirits, increase joyful experiences; and greatly improve quality of life. Since its inception in 2006, the program has been instituted in hundreds of care facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

This was the special project of Gwen G. Miller, immediate past President of the American Legion Auxiliary-New Mexico Department, who presented the check to Fort Bayard State Veterans Home, which is operated by the New Mexico Department of Health.

"I was so moved after watching the documentary G