A weekday soup kitchen, seven pantries, two Foodshare truck stops and lunch for older residents, with the hours each one posts
New Opportunities: Operation Pantry
Where: 22 Church St. (the city's list gives 11 Church St.; call to confirm)
When: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the agency, which says the hours can shift with demand. Call to confirm.
Who can go: Working families with low and middle incomes, older residents and people with disabilities in the Greater Meriden area who do not have enough to eat
What to bring: Shoppers give their name, address and household size and state their own income.
Contact: 203-639-5060 · newoppinc.org
Shoppers pick out their own groceries here rather than taking a packed bag.
Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish Food Pantry
Where: 109 Goodwill Ave.
When: Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to noon, according to the parish. Call ahead to confirm.
Contact: Pantry line 203-427-8732; parish office 203-235-6381 · olqoa.org
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
Where: 20 Catlin St.
When: The third Saturday of the month, 9 to 11 a.m., according to the city's list: October 17, November 21 and December 19. Call to confirm the starting time.
Contact: 203-237-7451
The Upper Room Christian Center
Where: 262 Bee St.
When: Fridays, noon to 3 p.m., and the second and fourth Tuesday evenings of the month. Call for the Tuesday hours.
Contact: 860-414-1343, the number on the city's list, or the church at 203-440-4183 · upperroomct.com
The church gives out clothing as well as food.
Meriden Pride Center
Where: 328 Paddock Ave., the same address as the Unitarian Universalist Church
When: Saturdays, noon to 3 p.m., and Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m.
Contact: 203-300-4723 · uumeriden.org
Joy Unlimited Ministries
Where: The parking lot at 305 Center St.
When: 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. The Spanish edition of the city's list gives the day as Sunday. A pickup has to be confirmed first by phone or text.
Contact: 203-906-3615 or 734-578-6956, by phone or text
Two Wallingford pantries take Meriden residents, and the city's own list names both.
Master's Manna: Pappas Family Food Pantry (Wallingford)
Where: 428 South Cherry St., Wallingford
When: By appointment: Mondays, 3 to 6 p.m.; Tuesdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesdays, 3 to 7 p.m.; Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Who can go: Residents of Meriden, Wallingford, Cheshire, Durham, Hamden, Middlefield, North Branford, Northford and North Haven. A household registers once, then shops by appointment.
What to bring: ID for every person in the household (a photo ID, birth certificate, Social Security card or health insurance card all count) and proof of address, such as a recent utility bill, lease or rent receipt; ordinary mail does not count. Bring grocery bags.
Contact: 203-678-3042 · mastersmanna.org
GLOW Food Pantry at The Rock Church (Wallingford)
Where: 26 Parker Farms Road, Wallingford
When: Fridays, 4 to 5 p.m., according to the church. Call to confirm.
Who can go: Anyone. Food goes out first come, first served, with no sign-up beforehand.
Contact: 203-208-8534, or text "Food" to 860-492-6444 · wallnazchurch.org
Free meals
The Meriden Soup Kitchen serves lunch every weekday, all year, in the First Baptist Church on Broad Street, about 140 to 200 meals a day. The Salvation Army adds a lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Across the town line, the dining room at Master's Manna is open to anyone for breakfast and lunch twice a week and dinner on Wednesdays.
Meriden Soup Kitchen
Where: First Baptist Church, 460 Broad St.
When: Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Who can go: Everyone. The meal is free, and age, sex, nationality and the rest make no difference to who is served.
Contact: 203-237-5529 · meridensoupkitchen.org
Guests can usually take home wrapped baked goods from area stores, and fresh fruit and vegetables when the kitchen has them.
The Salvation Army, Meriden Corps
Where: 23 St. Casimir Drive
When: Soup kitchen on Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon to 1 p.m. Food pantry on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.; call to confirm when the pantry closes.
Contact: 203-235-6532 · salvationarmyusa.org
The corps office answers Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and is closed on Fridays.
Master's Manna Family Dining Center (Wallingford)
Where: 428 South Cherry St., Wallingford
When: Tuesdays and Thursdays, breakfast 9 to 11 a.m. and lunch 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesdays, dinner 3 to 6:30 p.m.
Who can go: Anyone, as often as they like, with no registration
Contact: 203-678-3042 · mastersmanna.org
Also in Meriden: call before you go
These four churches are on the Meriden Soup Kitchen's list of food help, dated March 2026, but not on the city's August list, and none posts its food hours on a page of its own. Call to make sure the food is still being given out before making the trip.
- Apostolic Community Church, 144 Center St., 203-639-0780
- First Congregational Church (the Midnight Run sandwich handout), 62 Colony St., 203-235-5704
- Iglesia Cristiana Palabra de Vida, 82-C Camp St., 203-519-4976
- New Gethsemane Deliverance Church, 220 Colony Street, 203-237-3946
More help
Connecticut Foodshare's Mobile Pantry truck sets up like an outdoor farmers market at two Meriden sites, each every other week. No ID is needed and no questions are asked. Only people 16 or older who come in person can take food, and each person leaves with about 20 pounds on average, so a few bags, a box or a small cart with wheels helps. The truck does not come when the city's schools close for the whole day because of weather. Texting FOODSHARE to 85511 (COMIDA for Spanish) brings the dates and any cancellations.
Foodshare at Ceppa Field
Where: Ceppa Field parking lot, 83 Gale Ave.
When: Every other Thursday, 1 to 2 p.m.: October 8 and 22, November 5 and 19, and December 3, 17 and 31
Contact: 203-469-5000 · Foodshare's calendar
Foodshare at Mount Hebron Church
Where: 84 Franklin St.
When: Every other Friday, 1:15 to 2:15 p.m.: October 16 and 30, November 13 and December 11. There is no stop on November 27 or December 25.
Contact: 203-469-5000 · Foodshare's calendar
Catholic Charities: St. Stanislaus Family Center
Where: 81 Akron St.
When: Call for hours.
Who can go: Families with low incomes who are in a crisis. Case managers help with food, diapers and clothing, and with rent and utility bills.
Contact: 203-235-2507 · ccaoh.org
Lunch at the Meriden Senior Center
Where: 22 West Main St., in the Max E. Muravnick Meriden Senior Center
When: Lunch at 11:30 a.m.; call for the days. The center is open weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Columbus Day, October 12, a $4 sub lunch takes the place of the regular meal; sign up for it by Friday, October 9.
Who can go: People 60 and older, for a suggested $3 or whatever they can give; others pay $6, as do people who get Meals on Wheels. The center does not take loose change.
What to bring: A state Form 5, filled out before the first reservation and renewed every year. Reservations are made in person or by phone by 12:30 p.m. the day before, and diners pick up a lunch ticket by 11:25 a.m.
Contact: Kitchen 203-630-4704; front office 203-237-0066 · meridenct.gov
Breakfast is sold on weekdays from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.; an English muffin with peanut butter costs 75 cents. LifeBridge Community Services' list of senior cafés, dated July 2025, also includes one at Casa Boricua, 204 Colony St.; call 203-238-0430 before going.
For people 60 and older who cannot leave home, LifeBridge delivers Meals on Wheels on weekdays; call 203-752-9919. The Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut will also buy $100 in groceries, one time, for a homebound older adult whose income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level; call 203-785-8533 and choose option 3.
School breakfast and lunch
Every K–12 student in Meriden Public Schools eats breakfast and lunch free on every school day, at every school. The menus are at meriden.nutrislice.com.
Thanksgiving and holiday help
Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. Most Meriden groups have not posted their 2026 holiday plans yet.
The United Way of Meriden and Wallingford collects Thanksgiving baskets from donors and hands them out through more than 20 local agencies, which enroll families they already serve. Families do not sign up with the United Way itself. The pantry, caseworker or agency a family already knows is the one to ask, or call the United Way at 203-235-4403.
The Meriden YMCA has not posted 2026 dates for its Thanksgiving meals yet; call 203-235-6386. The Salvation Army has posted no 2026 holiday plans; call 203-235-6532. Our Lady Queen of Angels gives out food to families at the holidays but has not posted 2026 dates; call the pantry line, 203-427-8732.
The Senior Center is closed on Thursday and Friday, November 26 and 27. Its lunch guests get frozen meals on Wednesday, November 25, because LifeBridge, which supplies the meals, is closed too.
SNAP, WIC and other help
SNAP, the monthly grocery benefit on an EBT card, can be applied for online at connect.ct.gov, by phone at 1-855-626-6632 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., or in person at a Department of Social Services Resource Center. The nearest to Meriden are in Middletown, at 2081 South Main St., Suite B, and in New Britain, at 30 Christian Lane; both are open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The state answers within 30 days. A household in an emergency, such as one with less than $150 a month in income and less than $100 in the bank, can get an answer within seven days.
Free help with the application is close by. Besides the Senior Center's community services staff (203-630-4273), New Opportunities screens applicants at 203-639-5060, and Connecticut Foodshare's SNAP line, 860-856-4357, takes calls in English and Spanish on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
WIC, for pregnant women, new mothers, babies and children under 5, has an office in Meriden: Bristol Health WIC, 165 Miller St., 203-427-8733. Families with incomes at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level qualify, and families on SNAP, HUSKY or Temporary Family Assistance meet the income rule automatically. Fathers, grandparents and foster parents can apply for their children. The state's online interest form starts an application, and a WIC worker calls back.
2-1-1, run by the United Way of Connecticut, lists pantries, meals and senior programs town by town. Dial 2-1-1 or search 211ct.org.
How to help
The Meriden Soup Kitchen takes food at the rear entrance of First Baptist Church on weekdays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. It cannot use glass, dented cans or anything already opened. Its list of what it needs most, last updated March 3, 2026, asks for coffee, juice and butter; rice and pasta sauce; canned soup, broth and vegetables; Italian and ranch dressing; and paper towels. It has enough pasta. Large cans and pop-top cans are easier for the volunteers. Volunteers work in the kitchen from about 7:30 to 10 a.m. or in the dining room from about 8:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., once a week or every other week, and the application is on the kitchen's volunteer page. Checks, made out to the Meriden Soup Kitchen, go by mail to PO Box 2138, Meriden, CT 06450, and gardeners can give produce through its Plant a Row program.
Our Lady Queen of Angels asks for fresh meat and chicken, milk and bread; tuna in cans or packets; peanut butter and jelly, cereal and pancake mix; pasta and sauce, rice and instant potatoes; canned soup, fruit and vegetables; and meals that are ready to eat. It also keeps an Amazon wish list. Volunteers there pack bags, stock the shelves and work the counter; the parish office is at 203-235-6381 and mainoffice@ourladyqueenofangels.net. New Opportunities accepts nonperishable food at its pantry during business hours.
For Thanksgiving, the United Way of Meriden and Wallingford matches donors with a family through a partner agency. A basket should hold enough nonperishable food for at least four people: canned corn, squash, carrots and potatoes, the makings of a green bean casserole, gravy, macaroni and cheese, cornbread mix, cranberry sauce and a dessert mix, plus a $20 gift card so the family can buy the meat or other protein it prefers. Donors sign up with Julia Pelletier at jpelletier@unitedwaymw.org or 203-235-4403, ext. 1002, and drop the basket off by Wednesday, November 18. Adopt-A-Family forms are due December 1, with gifts due at the agencies by December 11, and the United Way's Giving Trees go up at the Meriden Mall in November.
Master's Manna in Wallingford is looking for volunteers in its kitchen, dining room and warehouse; call 203-678-3042.
The Meriden Soup Kitchen has no paid staff, so money given to it goes to the kitchen's costs.
Frequently asked questions
Is there free food in Meriden on the weekend?
Yes, though less of it. The Meriden Pride Center pantry is open Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., and St. Andrew's gives out food on the third Saturday of the month. Joy Unlimited's pickup may be on Sundays; call or text first. The soup kitchens serve on weekdays only.
Do I need an ID?
Not for the Foodshare trucks, which ask no questions, or for GLOW, which has no sign-up. The soup kitchen serves everyone who comes in. New Opportunities asks for your name, address and household size, and you state your own income. Master's Manna is the one that asks for ID for each person in your home and proof of where you live.
Do I have to live in Meriden?
The soup kitchen, GLOW and the Master's Manna dining room serve anyone. New Opportunities serves the Greater Meriden area, and the Master's Manna pantry serves Meriden and eight nearby towns. Most of the church pantries do not post a rule, so ask when you call.
I am 60 or older. Where can I get lunch?
The Meriden Senior Center serves lunch at 11:30 a.m. for a suggested $3. Fill out a Form 5 first, then reserve by 12:30 p.m. the day before at 203-630-4704. If you cannot get out, LifeBridge's Meals on Wheels delivers on weekdays: 203-752-9919.
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