Free Food in East Haven, CT: Pantries and Meals

The town pantry on Park Place, the mobile pantry at St. Pio, the Community Dining Room's family meals, and meals for residents 55 and older

East Haven's food pantry on Park Place is open two mornings a week, Connecticut Foodshare's mobile pantry comes to St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish every other Tuesday, and the Community Dining Room serves free family meals in town and frozen weekend meals for residents 55 and older. Anyone in East Haven who is short on food right now can call the town's Social Services office at 203-468-3277, where staff help find emergency food that fits the household's situation.

Last checked: October 6, 2026. Hours and programs change, so call ahead when you can.

Before you go

The town pantry is for East Haven residents and asks for proof of address; the listing below says what counts. People from other Connecticut towns can still get the federal food it hands out.
At the pantry, be in line before 11 a.m. Closings for severe weather are announced on News Channel 8.
The mobile pantry at St. Pio has no residency rule. Bring a bag.
The weekend meals for older residents and the weekday senior lunch both need registration ahead of time.
The Community Dining Room's family dinners and breakfasts need no sign-up.

Food pantries

The East Haven Food Pantry began at the Old Stone Church in 1985 and now serves more than 350 families. Residents may come twice each calendar month, and homebound residents may be able to get their groceries delivered.

East Haven Food Pantry

Where: 39 Park Place
When: Tuesdays and Saturdays, 9 to 11 a.m. Be in line before 11 a.m.
Who can go: East Haven residents, twice a calendar month; the town describes each visit as a three-day emergency supply. Connecticut residents from other towns can still stop by for food from the federal government. Homebound residents may qualify for delivery; call to ask.
What to bring: A photo ID with your full name and current East Haven address, or a current utility bill, a piece of mail, or a tenant agreement showing that address
Contact: 203-467-4668 · EastHavenFoodPantry@gmail.com · easthavenfoodpantry.com

Free meals

The Community Dining Room, based in Branford, also serves East Haven, North Branford, and Guilford, and it brings its meals to East Haven: a family dinner at the senior center and a family breakfast at Overbrook Early Learning Center, twice each in October. Its October schedule is below; ask the dining room for November and December.

Community Dining Room family dinners

Where: East Haven Senior Center, 91 Taylor Ave.
When: Wednesdays, October 14 and October 28, 5 to 6:30 p.m., on the dining room's October schedule. Call 203-488-9750 to confirm, and for later dates. The October 14 dinner also offers diapers and clothing; October 28 is a Halloween party.
Who can go: Families with children can sit down and eat; anyone else can take a dinner to go. No RSVP or registration is needed.
Contact: 203-488-9750 · info@communitydiningroom.org · communitydiningroom.org

Community Dining Room family breakfast

Where: Overbrook Early Learning Center, 54 Gerrish Ave.
When: Saturday, October 17, 9 to 10:30 a.m., on the October schedule. Call 203-488-9750 to confirm, and for later dates.
Who can go: Everyone

Nearby: lunch every day in Branford

The Community Dining Room's own dining room, at 30 Harrison Ave. in Branford, serves a hot lunch every day of the week, from noon to 1 p.m.

More help

Older residents have two programs at the senior center on Taylor Avenue, frozen weekend meals and a weekday lunch, and two more for those who cannot leave home. After them come the mobile pantry, a pantry box that never closes, and school meals.

Weekend meals for residents 55 and older

Where: East Haven Senior Center, 91 Taylor Ave. (pickup)
When: Fridays, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Each person takes home two frozen meals for the weekend.
Who can go: East Haven residents 55 and older who register, online or with a paper form at the senior center. People who are not senior center members show proof of residency when they register.
Pickup: If you cannot come, call by noon on the Wednesday before. The meals are not delivered, and the dining room cannot change them for diets or allergies.
Contact: senior center, 203-468-3277 · Community Dining Room, 203-488-9750, ext. 2 · register online

Weekday lunch at the senior center

Where: LifeBridge Senior Community Cafe, East Haven Senior Center, 91 Taylor Ave.
When: Mondays through Fridays, starting at 11:30 a.m. Reserve at least one day ahead.
Who can go: People 60 and older who live in the Greater New Haven area, their spouses, and some younger people with disabilities who live in housing where the meals are served. People who get Meals on Wheels at home cannot also eat at the café.
What to bring: A completed registration form, LifeBridge's Form 5, from the town's website. The meal is free; LifeBridge suggests a $3 donation.
Contact: 203-468-3277 · easthaven-ct.gov

Help at home for older adults

LifeBridge Community Services delivers a meal on weekdays to people 60 and older who cannot leave home; call 203-752-9919. The state's senior meal program has no income limit, but it may keep a waiting list when demand runs ahead of funding.

For a homebound older adult whose income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, the Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut can buy $100 worth of groceries, one time. Call 203-785-8533 and choose option 3.

Connecticut Foodshare mobile pantry

Where: St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish, 355 Foxon Road, with the East Haven Family Resource Center
When: Every other Tuesday, 2 to 2:45 p.m.: October 13 and 27, November 10 and 24, December 8 and 22
Who can go: Anyone. There is no residency requirement and no ID, and nobody asks questions. Only people 16 or older who come in person can pick up food.
What to bring: Your own bag, or a box or a rolling cart. Each person gets about 20 pounds of food on average.
Contact: 203-469-0764 · text FOODSHARE to 85511 (COMIDA for Spanish) for the schedule and cancellations

Purple Pantry Box at Old Stone Church

Where: Old Stone Church, 251 Main St.
When: Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Who can go: Anyone, with no application, no ID, and no questions. The box holds shelf-stable food.
Contact: Purple Pantry Boxes, 475-549-8130 · purplepantryboxes.com · the church, 203-467-2907

Schoolchildren

Eight East Haven public schools were on the state's 2025–26 list of schools where every student eats breakfast and lunch free under the Community Eligibility Provision. The state has not posted the 2026–27 list; the district office, 203-468-3261, can say whether it continues. The food pantry also runs Kindness for Kids, its program for school-age children in town who do not have enough to eat; Annarose answers questions at 203-468-6611.

Thanksgiving and holiday help

The East Haven Food Pantry gives out holiday baskets at Thanksgiving and in December. It has not posted its 2026 dates or how to sign up; call 203-467-4668.

The East Haven Rotary Club has not posted its 2026 plans for its free Thanksgiving dinner deliveries; call Rotarian Ashley Lesco at 203-208-8212.

The mobile pantry at St. Pio runs on Tuesday, November 24, two days before Thanksgiving.

SNAP, WIC and other help

East Haven's Social Services office is at the senior center, 91 Taylor Ave., 203-468-3277, and Director of Social Services Cherie Sarno is at extension 13224 and csarno@easthaven-ct.gov.

SNAP, the grocery benefit once called food stamps, is paid each month onto an EBT card. Apply online; by phone at 1-855-626-6632, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; or in person at any Department of Social Services Resource Center, among them the New Haven center at 50 Humphrey St., open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The department says it decides within 30 days, or within seven days in an emergency, such as a household with less than $150 a month in income and less than $100 in the bank. Its income chart as of October 1, 2026, allows up to $2,660 a month before taxes for one person and $5,500 for a household of four, and a little more when someone in the home is 60 or older or has a disability.

For free help applying, call End Hunger CT! at 866-974-7627 or Connecticut Foodshare's SNAP team at 860-856-4357, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in English or Spanish. The Community Action Agency of New Haven, which covers East Haven, helps too: 419 Whalley Ave., New Haven, 203-387-7700.

WIC helps pregnant women, new mothers, babies, and children until their fifth birthday with groceries, and a father, grandparent, or foster parent can apply for a child. A household on SNAP, TFA, or HUSKY already meets the income rule. East Haven is in the state's New Haven WIC region, whose offices include Fair Haven Community Health Care, 374 Grand Ave., 203-773-5007; Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, 428 Columbus Ave., 203-503-3080; and Yale New Haven Hospital, 150 Sargent Dr., 203-688-5150. The state's interest form starts an application, or call 1-800-741-2142.

For places not in this guide, dial 2-1-1 or search 211ct.org, which lists pantries and meals by town.

How to help

The East Haven Food Pantry takes donations at 39 Park Place on Mondays and Fridays, 8 to 10 a.m. It needs pasta and sauce, cereal and hot cereal, peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, canned tuna and soup, rice sides, and pancake, mashed potato, and stuffing mixes. Money can go by PayPal, by Venmo to @ehfoodpantry, or by check to 39 Park Place. Volunteers deliver groceries from pickup spots, work at the pantry, where community service hours are available, or run food drives.
Kindness for Kids, the pantry's program for schoolchildren, asks for single-serving snacks, such as bags of chips, crackers, and cookies, fruit or applesauce cups, pudding, granola bars, juice boxes, and individual cereal containers, plus canned soup, canned pasta, macaroni and cheese, and shelf-stable milk.
The Community Dining Room takes food drives, keeps an Amazon wish list, and spends cash gifts at Connecticut Foodshare. New volunteers start at an orientation held "bi-monthly on the 2nd Monday," 5 to 6 p.m.; the volunteer coordinator is at volunteercoordinator@communitydiningroom.org or 203-488-9750, ext. 1. Details are on its help page.
Purple Pantry Boxes takes only factory-sealed, shelf-stable food, and money by Venmo at @purplepantryboxes.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use the East Haven pantry if I live in another town?

Partly. The pantry's regular groceries are for East Haven residents, but people from other Connecticut towns can still stop by for the federal food it gives out. The mobile pantry at St. Pio has no residency rule at all.

What counts as proof that I live in East Haven?

A photo ID with your full name and current East Haven address. Without one, bring a current utility bill, a piece of mail, or a tenant agreement with your East Haven address.

Is there food on a weekend?

The pantry is open Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m., and the Community Dining Room's next family breakfast is on Saturday, October 17. Residents 55 and older can pick up two frozen weekend meals on Fridays, the pantry box at Old Stone Church never closes, and the Community Dining Room in Branford serves lunch every day.

Can food come to my house?

Homebound residents may qualify for delivery from the food pantry; call 203-467-4668. LifeBridge delivers weekday meals to people 60 and older who cannot leave home, at 203-752-9919. The Community Dining Room's weekend meals are pickup only.

Know something we missed? Email tips@thequinnipiacpost.com to help us keep this guide up to date.