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NJ Realtor starts Food Brigade food pantry to feed residents
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Anne-Marie Caruso, NorthJersey.com
Mini food pantries, driven by grassroots efforts, are popping up across the country, including Clifton.
Clifton resident Donna Popowich told elected city leaders Tuesday night that she and two friends, Nicole Cropinack and Barbara James, plan to open three of the mini pantries.
Inspired by two other small pantries set up by other volunteers, one on Viola Avenue and another in front of Living Hope Presbyterian Church on Maplewood Avenue, the three women began brainstorming about how to open three of those mini pantry on Clifton property.
Not all mini food pantries are part of the same grass-roots effort. Some are called Little Food Pantries, others are Little Free Pantries as well as others. The Little Free Pantry has a website with a list of pantry locations.
Mini food pantries are believed to have first appeared in May 2016 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, when Jessica McClard placed a wooden box on a pole and filled it with food, personal care and paper items for anyone to pick up. , no questions asked.
It was copied from the Little Free Library concept and created a place where neighbors could help food insecure neighbors. Instead of taking or leaving a book, people will take or leave food or valuables such as toiletries
The Clifton mini pantry
The Clifton trio asked City Health Officer John Biegel for help, Popowich said. They created two pantries the size of a small bookshelf or a storage box and found three locations in the city to house them. One is located at the city’s senior center barn and the other at Jubilee Park.
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A third pantry, Popowich said, which will contain pet food and pet products, will be located at the city’s animal shelter. Volunteers said they hope to have the sites up and running in the next few weeks.
The pantries are made by the local Scout Troop 23 from St. Andrew the Apostle Roman Catholic Church.
The plan is to keep them stocked through pledges from local groups. The small pantries don’t hold much, but the creators hope that people and local organizations will embrace the concept by making periodic donations.
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The Clifton Board of Education has committed to stocking the pantries in August, Popowich said. The City Council is expected to take over the pantry for another month, he said.
Another way to help
Hunger is a complex and sometimes nuanced issue with more than 700,000 food-insecure New Jersey residents, said Leeja Carter, the CEO of the Coalition for Food and Health Equity, a nonprofit organization.
Small meals or mini pantries may not be the perfect solution to the problem, but they are a useful tool, Carter said.
For a list and map of Little Free Pantry sites, visit LittleFreePantry.org. New mini food pantry locations may be added to the list.
Popowich said helping doesn’t require a huge commitment, just the time to stock the mini pantry of goods.
Any individual or group interested in pledging to stock the pantry for a month, or would like more information, email Popowich at: [email protected].
Clifton is also home to St. Peter’s Haven, which runs a traditional food pantry. This and other pantries need donations. For more information, visit SaintPetersHaven.org.
Assistance for the food insecure is also available through the Community Food Bank of New Jersey at https://cfbnj.org/.
