Clifton organizers fight to keep Little Free Food Pantries open amid city rules
The volunteer-run pantries, started in 2024 by Donna Popowich and Barbara James, are stocked weekly with donated food and available 24 hours a day for anyone who needs assistance.
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A network of eight Little Free Food Pantries across Clifton that provides free groceries to residents in need is now facing an uncertain future.
The volunteer-run pantries, started in 2024 by Donna Popowich and Barbara James, are stocked weekly with donated food and available 24 hours a day for anyone who needs assistance. Organizers say the effort has helped families by offering staples like cereal, pasta and soup directly in neighborhoods across the city.
But Popowich says the program is now running into regulatory challenges after city officials raised concerns about how the food is stored and how the pantries are classified under local rules.
She says health officials flagged her garage as a storage site for donated food, citing sanitation concerns. Organizers also say they are now being treated under rules intended for food retail operations — something they strongly dispute.
“We’re not running a business. There is no commerce,” Popowich said. "They're saying that people coming to our pantry are running a business in a residential zone."
"It's just so heartwarming to know that we're making a difference, and so that they want to shut us down on a technicality that they actually actively sought and looked for," James said.
The group is now asking the city to update its ordinances to create a carve-out for the program, allowing food to be stored at an alternative location and distributed by volunteers without added requirements.
"Ordinance would give us a carve out so that all the food is stored at the boys club, but I could go there and pack a bag," Popowich said. "And then when one of my fillers, like Lori comes by and she needs to pick up food for Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I could pack your bags, bring them home.
Until then, organizers say the future of the pantries remains unclear.
In a statement, city manager Gary S. DeMarzo said the city “recognizes and appreciates the vital role” food pantries play in addressing food insecurity but emphasized the responsibility to ensure food is “handled and stored in a manner that protects the health and safety” of residents.
He added the city’s goal is not to hinder volunteer efforts, but to work “collaboratively with pantry operators, health officials, and community partners” to find solutions that balance public health standards with the need to serve residents in need.
