Demopolis’ first annual Senior Adults Appreciation Week will take place August 18-25 and will acknowledge the community’s seniors through discounts, service projects, a raffle and other forms of acknowledgement.

The appreciation week is a project of Senior Adults Living Triumphantly (SALT), a respite program for adults with dementia and other forms of memory loss. It also aims to support the caregivers of the participants.

“Our senior adults deserve recognition and heartfelt thanks for their achievements and contributions to our city. This week hopes to unify efforts in the community in demonstrating, through tokens of appreciation, service, and business discounts, how valued our senior adults are in the Demopolis community,” SALT Director Bambi Hamilton said.

SALT’s long-term goal is to turn Demopolis into a dementia-friendly city, and the appreciation week is part of those efforts.

“We are laying the groundwork. The proclamation week seeks to engage the community in acknowledging the importance and value of the older generation. We want to create a city in which all senior adults can participate fully, find encouragement, acceptance and [the] assistance they need to lead lives of independence and dignity,” Hamilton said.

Those aged 65 and over can look forward to a free car wash from The Lube Center, discounts from local business, raffle prizes to be drawn at the end of the week from participating businesses and youth and other volunteers pumping gas and cleaning windshields at Parr’s service stations in town.

The Demopolis High School DECA Club will present a slide show featuring available services to senior adults that will be displayed in local restaurants with TVs. Demopolis Middle School, U.S. Jones Elementary School and Westside Elementary School are also planning on recognizing senior adults in the community.

The participating businesses and other locations will be marked with a Demopolis Senior Adults Appreciation Week logo in the window. The volunteers at Parr’s locations will also wear appreciation week stickers.

(This article originally appeared in the Wednesday, August 14 issue of the Demopolis Times.)