NEK Residents Benefit from Blizzard Bags

Hundreds of elder Northeast Kingdom residents are receiving emergency blizzard bags of shelf stable-food and beverages thanks to a joint project from the NEK Council on Aging (NEKCOA), Passumpsic Bank, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH), 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 NEK Council on Aging home delivered meal recipients. 

The Blizzard Bag partnership with the NEK Council on Aging and Passumpsic Bank 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. They partnered with NVRH to coordinate the first Blizzard Bag packing party. It was held at the hospital with volunteers from Passumpsic Bank, NVRH, and the NEKCOA.

“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 & 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 NEK Council on Aging. The packed bags were distributed to 14 senior meal sites that partner with the NEKCOA.
 
“NVRH has a long history of supporting our community, and we know that food access is a growing need for families and individuals in the NEK,” states Diana Gibbs, VP of Marketing and Community Health Improvement. “We are grateful for collaborations such as the Blizzard Bag effort with Passumpsic Bank and the NEK Council on Aging to ensure emergency food access for our most vulnerable residents.”
 
The program has grown to include North Country Hospital and meal site partners in the northern NEK.

“We remain grateful for the assistance from our loyal community partners,” said Meg Burmeister, Executive Director of the NEKCOA. “Our older NEK residents need our support and its reassuring to know that we have such dedicated people in our communities who can help. When we address the needs of older Vermonters, we improve the lives of all Vermonters.”