THE MAJOR project to be taken on by the Rotary Club of St Andrew this year will be an exercise, health and social intervention for the elderly, who currently represent 10 per cent of the Jamaican population.

"The goal is to enhance the quantity and quality of their lives," said incoming Rotary Club President Merlene Bardowell during the club's 2008-2009 installation banquet, held on Monday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Bardowell told Rotarians that the project would be community-based and carried out in collaboration with the Department of Community Health and Psychiatry at the University of the West Indies, Mona.

Challenging year ahead

"With a positive evaluation, the project will be replicated at other sites across the island," she said.

Bardowell said she expected the 2008-2009 year to be particularly challenging for the club.

She told members that with current issues such as high inflation, food security and the energy crisis, the demand for assistance was likely to increase.

"But we stand ready and I am confident that together we will make dreams real for the less fortunate as we also fulfil our dreams," she said.