With so many of our forum posts recently focusing on music therapy and Earth Hour just around the corner, this story seems especially apropos. 13-year-old Alexandra Sanchez, who was born with a form of cerebra palsy which caused her right hand to remain clenched into a fist. Through the repetitive motion involved in sorting recycled materials, she has been able to grasp a can or bottle with her right hand – something she wasn’t able to do less than a month ago.

About five months ago, the Sanchez family began a business, Sanchez Recycling, which has helped pay for music therapy for two of their three children. Over the summer they placed bins at the annual Hot Chili & Cool Cars event in Rocklin, where they were able to gather 500 gallons of recycling in one day. Once the items are collected, they’re placed in a large bin, unsorted, and here is where Alexandra’s role comes in. With three large trash bins in front of her, she takes the unsorted cans and bottles and sorts them into different bins. She is able to grab a hold of the cans and bottles with her right hand and drop them into the correct bin.

It’s somewhat of a mystery as to what attracts Alexandra to recycling. Even she has a hard time explaining the connection. “I think it’s just because my right hand started picking up stuff,” she said.

The family has raised enough money to partially pay for music therapy, and is optimistic about growing their business to fully cover music therapy expenses. It's a serendipitous situation for sure, as music and recycling are the two therapies to which Alexandra has responded.

Before the family could afford music therapy, father Chad Sanchez said the children would play karaoke with Beatles songs. And although his children Jason and Alexandra have been in music therapy for months now, karaoke is still a daily routine. It’s the first thing Alexandra does when she wakes up on Saturday mornings, when she returns from music therapy and comes home after school.

For Alexandra, says Chad, “Music changed everything."