In September, as Albert Lea nears the end of the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project, people across the country will get the chance to follow Albert Leans and begin their own quest to achieve longer, healthier lives.

Cathy Ventura-Merkel, AARP publications director, said AARP will launch a national Web site Sept. 1 to encourage everyone in the country to join the Vitality Project and increase their longevity. It will be a six-week mini-Vitality Project of sorts.

In January, AARP and Blue Zones leaders announced that Albert Lea was chosen as the pilot location for the Vitality Project, which is aimed at increasing longevity for the city’s residents.

Many residents have pledged to be a part of the project, signifying they are willing to make small, simple changes to better their lives.

During the national launch in September, success stories from Albert Lea will be featured for people across the country to view.

Every week there will be new videos that focus on different principles of the project, and there will be interactive tools and checklists for people to use to help them live move more naturally and reorganize their kitchen, to name a few of the ideas, Ventura-Merkel said.

Project leaders also hope to include a portion on the Web site that will help other communities implement the project, including ideas on how to get the leadership organized and how to organize volunteers to make it happen.

Amy McDonough, associate state director of communications, said project leaders are still looking for additional Albert Leans to be profiled. To do so, people need to come forward and share their stories and be willing to open up and be followed.

People who are profiled have to keep a record of the changes they are implementing into their lives, along with how they are thinking and what have been their challenges and breakthroughs, Ventura-Merkel said.

“I think Albert Lea is on exactly the right track to take this into the future and be a model for the rest of the country,” she said.

For the remaining months of the project, she encouraged Albert Lea residents to take advantage of the summer months and all that the community has to offer.

“I hope everyone just continues to take advantage of everything offered and creates the kinds of networks so this continues and gets handed down generation to generation,” she said.

People who have not signed on can still do so.

On Oct. 13, there will be a closing celebration, when people will find out how much their healthy changes have improved their lives.

“We’re really looking forward to that event in a very big way,” Ventura-Merkel said.

At that point the project will be primarily in the hands of city leaders to keep going, she said. AARP and Blue Zones leaders will still offer support if needed, and AARP may do a follow-up story a year later in its magazine to see how Albert Lea is doing.