NEWPORT, Hundreds of elderly Northeast Kingdom residents are receiving emergency blizzard bags filled with shelf-stable food and beverages through a joint project involving the NEK Council on Aging, Passumpsic Bank, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, and North Country Hospital.
Each bag contains a one-day supply of emergency food and drink. The bags are distributed to NEK Council on Aging home-delivered meal recipients. The partnership began in 2017 when the council’s existing emergency food bag program faced budget cuts.
This year, food and beverages were delivered to two packing locations. About 300 bags were packed at the Cornucopia meal site in Derby and another 300 at the NEK Council on Aging office in St. Johnsbury. Eleven volunteers helped, and the packed bags were sent to 14 senior meal sites that partner with the council.
North Country Hospital and meal site partners in the northern NEK joined the program this year. “We are so grateful for the Blizzard Bag program expanding again this year, to include more bags for seniors in need of food,” said Wendy Franklin, Director of Communications & Foundation at North Country Hospital. “Many hands make small work, and this is all possible through our collaboration with the NEK Council on Aging, Passumpsic Bank, and NVRH.”
Originally reported by Newport Dispatch.
Photo: Gustavo Fring via Pexels. Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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