The Tobías Club has four mottos that motivate the participation of seniors and assist motor needs, mental agility and emotional stability.
In Venezuela, the emergence of the term silver economy is a consequence of the migration of more than 7.9 million Venezuelans, mostly of productive ages, according to the UN Refugee Agency
The silver economy poses a paradigmatic change in the West that highlights the potential economic impact of older adults.
Tobias Club It is one of those initiatives who live in the country. José Rafael Quintana, founding partner of this initiative, explained to the ARI Mobile of the Rebel Alliance Investigates that this is a civil association that has the purpose of keeping the elderly active on an emotional, psychomotor and economic level.
Quintana revealed during a Club day at the Macaracuay Shopping Center that the idea was born from Zandra Pedraza, founder of Club Tobías, who found her inspiration in a project where she participated at the planning and strategy level.
Between them and with the collaboration of people linked to the administration of the Shopping Centers in Caracas, today Club Tobías has 18 clubs.
“He who does not move is yours”
José Rafael Quintana shared with ARI Móvil all the details of this project.
“What Club Tobías seeks is a social gathering. For people to leave their homes, dance, sing, talk, celebrate life.”
Seniors, members of the Tobías Club in the Macaracuay Shopping Center. Photography Yaya Andueza
With this objective as its goal, the initiative has four mottos that motivate the participation of seniors and assist motor needs, mental agility and emotional stability.
- “We dance, we sing, we talk, we celebrate life and we connect neurons.”
- “He who does not move, becomes yours.”
- “Joy brings us much more joy.”
- “At Club Tobías we discover talent.”
Path to sustainability
Last year Club Tobías won first place in the contest promoted by the IDEA Institute of Advanced Studies Foundation in November 2024, as the best social responsibility project in all of Venezuela.
Quintana explained that in this contest Club Tobías presented six (6) business models. Of these, they are currently exploiting one linked to the shopping centers of the capital city, since throughout the 43 months of the initiative they have discovered the marketing potential that they generate in these places.
“We have discovered that the club is a marketing tool because all these people (senior adults) leave their homes and reactivate the national market.”
In return, some shopping centers like the one in Macaracuay give a monetary donation. This donation serves for logistical support that covers part of the club’s activities. Quintana revealed that, according to his calculations, “The shopping center ends up having an Investment of 70 dollars” for each time the activities are presented. In this case, the Macaracuay Shopping Center allows club presentations once a month.
Having fun at 80
Gamarra, an 87-year-old man who is nicknamed “The King of La Urbina” for his performance in the dance, shared with the ARI Alliance of The Pitazo, Runrun.es and SuchWhich how Club Tobías has changed his life.
Mr. Gamarra “The King of Urbina”, member of the Tobías Club. Photography Yaya andueza
“I have been coming to all the activities for about a year. Here you spend two or three hours very fun, very happy, you meet people, the people are very kind and very friendly.”
In the month of December, Club Tobías hopes to close the year with two more clubs to take its initiative to 20 different spaces, where they hope to contribute to the physical, mental and emotional development of more and more seniors.
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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