Hundreds of elder Northeast Kingdom residents are receiving emergency blizzard bags of shelf stable-food and beverages thanks to a joint project from the Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging, Passumpsic Bank, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital and North Country Hospital. Each blizzard bag is filled with a one-day supply of emergency food and beverage. The Passumpsic Bank coordinated funding of the project with their hospital partners and the bags are distributed to Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging home delivered meal recipients.
The blizzard bag partnership started in 2017, when the existing council’s emergency food bag program was threatened due to budgetary constraints. Passumpsic Bank reached out to the council to help, partnering with Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital to coordinate the first blizzard bag packing party with volunteers from Passumpsic Bank, the hospital and the Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging.
“The blizzard bag project is a wonderful example of what local organizations working together in collaboration for a common goal can accomplish,” said Mary Cote, senior vice president, head of retail banking and customer support for Passumpsic Bank. “Supporting our communities is the cornerstone of Passumpsic Bank. We are proud to be a partner in this project to provide a solution that ensures seniors receive food in the event weather prevents a hot meal from being delivered.”
This year, food and beverages were delivered to two locations for packing, 300 bags were packed in Derby at the cornucopia/umbrella meal site and 300 bags at the St. Johnsbury office of the Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging. The packed bags were distributed to 14 senior meal sites that partner with the Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging and the program has since grown to include North Country Hospital and other meal site partners in the Northeast Kingdom.
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