Seniors in Sandys have received boxes full of herb and vegetable seedlings to help them to grow their own food.

The boxes were presented by the Hamilton Rotary Club’s youth division, Bermuda Interact, and are aimed at helping to reduce the cost of living for the island’s ageing community.

They were delivered to residents at one of the Bermuda Housing Trust’s five properties.

John Barritt, the chairman of the trust, said: “We aim to provide our seniors with a degree of independence and dignity so that they can live on their own.

“This sort of project helps to support that degree of independence, and I think that it will work out well, particularly for seniors who tend to be on fixed incomes.

“Thank you for coming up with this idea and for sticking with it.”

Martin Schulman, the district governor for Rotary District 7230 in the United States, which encompasses Bermuda, was visiting the island and attended Wednesday’s event.

“I hope that they continue on that way through Interact, Rotaract [aimed at 18 to 30-year-olds] and into Rotary later in life, to continue paying forward the privileges they have earned from their life here in Bermuda,” he said.

The nominee for district governor, Syed Alihari, who was also visiting Bermuda, added: “This project that you have put together is showing what young people can truly do for the Rotary.”