Cooley Dickinson to Host Trees of Love & Thanksgiving Ceremony on Nov. 20

NORTHAMPTON — The trees in the Healing Garden at Cooley Dickinson Hospital (CDH) will again glow this season, honoring friends, family members, and neighbors. Through a suggested donation of $15, community members can designate a light in memory or in honor of a loved one in the annual Trees of Love & Thanksgiving.

Now in its 26th year, Trees of Love & Thanksgiving has raised needed funding to support initiatives most critical to the hospital. This year, fundraising will support the music program for the hospital’s inpatient behavioral-health unit.

Through mindfulness, calmness, and reclaiming a sense of self outside of an illness, music therapy lowers distress levels for people living with mental-health issues and engages those who might otherwise isolate themselves. “Returning patients look forward to music therapy sessions, and for some patients, it is the first treatment they participate in that sets them on the road to recovery,” said Jacquelyn Ouellette, Inpatient Behavioral Health nurse director.

In addition to supporting the music therapy program, a portion of each donation will be used to purchase infant car beds, which provide safe transportation for underweight newborns from the hospital to home.

The names of the honorees will be displayed in the hospital; in addition, an acknowledgement card will be mailed to those who are honored or to family members of people who are memorialized.

A lighting ceremony will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the Healing Garden. A light reception will follow. Click here to donate to Trees of Love & Thanksgiving.