Focus on the Elderly in September

National Grandparents’ Day will be observed on Sunday, September 30, and forms part of activities to mark Senior Citizens’ Month, which is celebrated in September.
For the month, the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) is paying tribute to the elders in society. Activities began on September 17 and will end on October 6.
On September 17 the Ministry of Labour and Social Security sponsored the Spelling Bee Finals among seniors, which was won by 70 year-old Pauline Tulloch from the Keystone Senior Citizens’ Club in St. Catherine.
On September 18, a Health and Information Fair was held at the St. Matthew’s Anglican Church Hall in St. Elizabeth and this too was sponsored by the Ministry, other government agencies and corporate citizens.
The remaining activities will include an afternoon of cultural entertainment at the Little Theatre in Kingston on Saturday, September 22 beginning at 3:00 p.m. and a parish debate at the Portland Preparatory and High School, on Wednesday, September 26, commencing at 10:00 a.m. The moot is: ‘Senior Citizens’ Health: Should it be the Responsibility of the Family?’ In addition to the host school, the other participating school is Boundbrook Primary in Port Antonio. The Hugh Lawson Shearer Foundation is the sponsor.
The week of September 30 to October 6 is to be highlighted as Senior Citizens’ Week. An ecumenical service to launch the week will be held on Sunday, September 30 at the Kingston Parish Church at 70B King Street, starting at 11:00 a.m.
Other activities organized by the Council in recognition of the Week are: the observance of International Day of Older Persons on Monday, October 1, which is also a United Nations designated day; a Garden Party at the St. Andrew Parish Church from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p. m.; a series of community outreach activities to be held across the island on Thursday, October 4; and a work day to be held at the Senior Day Activity Centre, 11 West King’s House Road on Saturday, October 6, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The Week will be observed under the theme: ‘Senior Citizens’ Health: Whose Responsibility is it?’ This is in keeping with the council’s promotion of healthy ageing.