Hundreds of elder Northeast Kingdom residents reveived emergency blizzard bags

ST. JOHNSBURY — Hundreds of elder Northeast Kingdom residents reveived 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 emergency food and beverage supply. 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.