Free Food in New Haven, CT: Pantries and Meals

Pantries, soup kitchens, Foodshare's mobile pantry, and meals for older adults across the city, with the hours each place posts

New Haven has a free meal somewhere in the city on every day of the week, six food pantries with posted hours, and four Connecticut Foodshare mobile pantry stops that set up every two weeks. Most of the meals are open to anyone who walks in, and the mobile pantry asks no questions and needs no ID. For anything this guide does not cover, dial 2-1-1, the state's information and referral line, and ask for food near you.

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

Before you go

Two pantries see people by appointment only: Christian Community Action, 203-777-7848, and Jewish Family Service, 203-397-0796.
Jewish Family Service may ask for a photo ID. If the ID does not show a current address, bring a piece of mail that does.
Bring bags. DESK asks for reusable ones at its Wednesday pantry, and Foodshare suggests a bag, a box, or a rolling cart at the mobile pantry.
A few places post their days but not their times, and some post no hours at all. Those listings say so. Call before making the trip.
Foodshare cancels its mobile pantry when the city's schools close for the full day because of weather.

Food pantries

A pantry hands out groceries to take home. Two of New Haven's share one address, St. Paul and St. James Episcopal Church at Chapel and Olive streets in Wooster Square: DESK gives out whole foods grocery-style there on Wednesday afternoons, and Loaves & Fishes opens on Saturday mornings. The others are in the Hill, on George Street, along Chapel Street and Whalley Avenue, on Grand Avenue, and at the city's public housing developments.

Olive Street Pantry (DESK)

Where: 57 Olive St., at Chapel Street (Wooster Square)
When: Wednesdays, 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Who can go: Everyone. DESK asks each person to fill out a very short intake form, which can also be done online ahead of time.
What to bring: Reusable bags
Contact: 203-624-6426 · info@deskct.org · deskct.org

Loaves & Fishes pantry and clothing closet

Where: St. Paul and St. James Episcopal Church, 57 Olive St., at Chapel Street (Wooster Square)
When: Saturdays, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Call the church office to confirm the start time.
Who can go: Loaves & Fishes says it serves individuals and families from all over Greater New Haven.
Contact: church office, 203-562-2143 · info@loavesandfishesnh.com · loavesandfishesnh.com

APNH community pantry days

Where: A Place to Nourish your Health (APNH), 1302 Chapel St.
When: First and third Thursdays of the month, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 3 p.m. Walk in; people line up on the front porch, behind the sign. APNH asks that no one arrive before 8:30 a.m.
Who can go: Anyone in the New Haven area. Only one adult from each household may use the pantry. On its other pantry days, APNH serves only the clients in its own case management.
Contact: 203-624-0947 · apnh.org

Salvation Army, George Street

Where: 450 George St.
When: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 9 a.m. to noon. A diaper bank keeps the same hours.
Contact: 203-624-9891 · salvationarmyusa.org

Christian Community Action Client Choice Food Pantry

Where: 168 Davenport Ave. (the Hill)
When: By appointment, Mondays through Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Who can go: Families, older adults, and people with disabilities on low incomes. Each household gets a bag of food once a month.
Contact: 203-777-7848 · cca@ccahelping.org · ccahelping.org

Jewish Family Service's Barry J. Vine Food Pantry

Where: 1440 Whalley Ave.
When: By appointment, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to noon, except on holidays and in months that have five weeks. Confirm the time when you book.
Who can go: People living near or below the poverty line, and others at risk of poor nutrition, once a month. Each person is asked to say aloud that they qualify under the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program, known as TEFAP.
What to bring: JFS may ask for a photo ID. If it does not show your current address, bring mail or another document that does.
Appointments: 203-397-0796. JFS returns calls within 24 hours, except on weekends, on holidays, and when the pantry is closed.
Contact: jfsnh.org

Junta for Progressive Action

Where: 175 Grand Ave.
When: Weekly. Call for days and hours.
Who can go: Junta says its pantry serves New Haven County.
Contact: 203-787-0191 · info@juntainc.org · juntainc.org

Catholic Charities' Centro San Jose

Where: 290 Grand Ave.
When: Call for hours.
Who can go: Catholic Charities says its emergency help is limited and households with children come first.
Contact: 203-777-6771 · ccaoh.org

Elm City Communities pantries

Where: At 12 developments of Elm City Communities, the city's housing authority: Abraham Ribicoff Cottages, C.B. Motley, Crawford Manor, Edith B. Johnson Towers and Monterey, Essex Townhouses, Fairmont Heights, McConnaughy Terrace, McQueeney Towers, Robert T. Wolfe, Valley Townhouses, Westville Manor, and William T. Rowe
When: Call 203-498-8800, ext. 1072, for days and hours.
Contact: elmcitycommunities.org

Free meals

Downtown, there is a free meal on every day of the week. DESK hands out grab-and-go dinners on the Green from Sunday through Thursday, Yale students run a dinner at 84 Broadway on Fridays and Saturdays, and the Community Soup Kitchen serves lunch in the same building four days a week and breakfast every Saturday. Sunrise Cafe in Wooster Square opens at 6:30 a.m. on weekdays.

Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK)

When and where:
- Sundays, 2:30 to 3 p.m., at Chapel on the Green, the corner of Temple and Chapel streets
- Mondays, 5 to 6 p.m., at Trinity on the Green, the corner of Temple and Chapel streets
- Tuesdays through Thursdays, 5 to 6 p.m., on the lower Green, the corner of Temple and Elm streets
- Fridays and Saturdays, DESK's schedule lists the Yale Community Kitchen at 84 Broadway, below.
Who can go: Everyone. "No questions asked," DESK says.
Drop-in center: 266 State St., Sundays through Thursdays, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m., and Fridays, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Contact: 203-624-6426 · deskct.org

Community Soup Kitchen, 84 Broadway

Where: 84 Broadway (Downtown)
When: Lunch on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., to eat there or take out. Breakfast on Saturdays, 8 to 9 a.m., every week of the year, holidays included.
Who can go: Anyone in New Haven County who walks in.
Also here: health screenings, clothing on Tuesdays, and a shower program open to the public
Contact: 203-624-4594 · csknewhaven.org

Yale Community Kitchen

Where: 84 Broadway, at the Community Soup Kitchen (Downtown)
When: Fridays, 5 to 6 p.m., and Saturdays, 4 to 5 p.m. Walk in. Call to confirm the Friday time.
Contact: Community Soup Kitchen, 203-624-4594 · csknewhaven.org

Sunrise Cafe

Where: St. Paul and St. James Episcopal Church, 57 Olive St., at Chapel Street (Wooster Square)
When: Mondays through Fridays, 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. One page of Sunrise's website gives later hours, so check with Sunrise to confirm.
Who can go: Everyone. Sunrise has two rules: "no drugs on the premises and no arguments."
Contact: sunrisecafenewhaven.org, through its contact form; no phone number is published.

Saint Thomas More Wednesday Soup Kitchen

Where: 268 Park St., at Saint Thomas More, Yale's Catholic chapel
When: Wednesdays at lunchtime, October through April. Call for the hours.
Who can go: Guests from the New Haven area. The chapel says it serves lunch to hundreds of them each week.
Contact: 203-777-5537 · stm.yale.edu

Community Soup Kitchen in the neighborhoods

The Community Soup Kitchen also serves meals at four sites outside downtown, open to all, as at 84 Broadway. They share its phone, 203-624-4594, and its locations page.

Newhallville: 5 Hazel St. Take-out on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, noon to 2 p.m. Another of the kitchen's pages says Monday through Friday, so call to confirm Wednesdays.
The Hill: The Springs Church, 33 Lamberton St. Take-out on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Call for times.
Fair Haven: 75 Hamilton St. Hot meals on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, noon to 2 p.m.
Dixwell: St. Martin de Porres Church. Breakfast on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Call for times and the address.

More help

Not all of the city's free food comes from a pantry or a soup kitchen. A refrigerator in Dwight is open to anyone seven days a week, Foodshare's mobile pantry sets up outdoors at four sites, and some programs reach people through their schools, their health center, or a senior meal program.

Dwight Community Fridge

Where: New Haven YMCA Youth Center, 50 Howe St. (Dwight)
When: Mondays through Fridays, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Who can go: Anyone. The food is free, and the rule is "take what you need, give what you can."
Contact: yhhap@dwighthall.org · yhhap.org

Connecticut Foodshare mobile pantry

The mobile pantry is set up outdoors, like a farmers market, and each person goes home with about 20 pounds of food on average. No ID is needed and no questions are asked, but only people 16 or older who come in person can pick up. Foodshare says to arrive close to the start time; coming very early does not help. Bring a bag, a box, or a rolling cart.

Farnam Community Center, 162 Fillmore St.: every other Thursday, 9:15 to 10 a.m. (October 8 and 22, November 5 and 19, December 3, 17, and 31)
Celentano School, 400 Canner St.: every other Thursday, 10:45 to 11:30 a.m. (the same dates)
Clinton Avenue School, 293 Clinton Ave.: every other Tuesday, 10:45 to 11:30 a.m. (October 13 and 27, November 10 and 24, December 8 and 22)
Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, 428 Columbus Ave.: every other Friday, 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. (October 9 and 23, November 6 and 20, December 4 and 18)

For the schedule and cancellation notices, text FOODSHARE to 85511 (COMIDA for Spanish), or see Foodshare's calendar.

Food4Kids weekend bags

During the school year, Jewish Family Service sends weekend food bags home with 450 students at three schools: Clinton Avenue School, East Rock Community Magnet School, and Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Childhood School. The bags go out through the schools. Sandy Hagan at JFS answers questions at 203-397-0796 and shagan@jfsnh.org.

Food as Medicine at Fair Haven Community Health Care

Patients of Fair Haven Community Health Care can be referred by their provider for fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthy food. Participants pick up at 374 Grand Ave., Building B, on Tuesdays, 1 to 4 p.m.; Thursdays, 4 to 7 p.m.; and Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to noon. The health center's Food Farmacy runs during the growing season. Questions go to fam@fhchc.org, and the program is described at fhchc.org.

Meals for older adults

LifeBridge Community Services runs Senior Meals on Wheels for the New Haven area. It delivers a weekday meal to people 60 and older who cannot leave home, and its community cafés serve lunch to anyone 60 or older who registers and reserves a seat the day before, for a suggested donation of $3. Call 203-752-9919 or see seniormealsct.org. LifeBridge's latest list of cafés, from July 2025, includes four in New Haven: the Atwater Senior Center, 26 Atwater St.; the Victoria Room at Bella Vista, 321 Eastern St.; Casa Otonal, 135 Sylvan Ave.; and the Dixwell Senior Center, 197 Dixwell Ave. Ask LifeBridge for each café's lunch time.

The state's senior meal program has no income limit. When demand runs ahead of funding, people with the greatest need come first, and others may be put on a waiting list.

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.

School meals

The state's 2025–26 list of schools where every student eats breakfast and lunch free, under the Community Eligibility Provision, included 44 schools in New Haven's district. The state has not posted its 2026–27 list. In schools outside that program, families can apply for free or reduced-price meals at any point in the school year, and a child whose household gets SNAP, TFA, HUSKY A, or Summer EBT benefits may qualify with no application at all.

Also in New Haven: call before you go

These churches and senior centers serve food, but their own websites are out of date or the only listing is an older city page, so this guide leaves out their hours. Call first.

Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church (food pantry and soup kitchen), 1324 Chapel St., 203-777-8744
Varick Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church (food pantry and soup kitchen), 242 Dixwell Ave., 203-624-6245
Walk of Faith Church (food pantry), 104 Fairmont Ave., 203-469-5134
The city's senior centers: Atwater, 26 Atwater St., 203-946-8550; Dixwell/Newhallville, 197 Dixwell Ave., 203-946-8541; and East Shore, 411 Townsend Ave., 203-946-8544

Thanksgiving and holiday help

No Thanksgiving program in this guide had posted a 2026 sign-up by October 6.

Christian Community Action gives a Thanksgiving food basket every year to families in the Hill. It has not posted its 2026 sign-up yet; call 203-777-7848.
The Atwater Senior Center has not posted the date of its 2026 community Thanksgiving yet; call 203-946-8550.

Two regular programs fall close to the holiday. The Community Soup Kitchen serves its Saturday breakfast at 84 Broadway every week of the year, and Foodshare's mobile pantry stops at Clinton Avenue School on Tuesday, November 24, two days before Thanksgiving.

SNAP, WIC and other help

SNAP, once called food stamps, puts money for groceries on an EBT card each month. Apply online, by phone at 1-855-626-6632 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., or in person at the Department of Social Services' New Haven Resource Center, 50 Humphrey St., which is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The department says it answers within 30 days, and 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. Under its chart as of October 1, 2026, a household of one can earn up to $2,660 a month before taxes and a household of four up to $5,500. The limit is a little higher when someone in the home is 60 or older or has a disability.

End Hunger CT! gives free, confidential help with an application at 866-974-7627. Connecticut Foodshare's SNAP team helps too, in English and Spanish, at 860-856-4357, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and so does the Community Action Agency of New Haven, 419 Whalley Ave., 203-387-7700.

WIC helps with groceries for pregnant women, new mothers, babies, and children up to their fifth birthday, and fathers, grandparents, and foster parents can apply for a child. A household already on SNAP, TFA, or HUSKY meets its income rule. New Haven's WIC offices are at 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., second floor, 203-688-5150. Start with the state's interest form or call 1-800-741-2142. Appointments can be by phone, by video, or in person.

The 2-1-1 line and 211ct.org list pantries, soup kitchens, and senior meals by town, each with the date it was last updated, and the site has a live chat.

How to help

The needs below are each place's own, with drop-off times where it gives them.

Christian Community Action takes nonperishable food for its pantry and names rice, peanut butter, cereal, jelly, canned beans, canned vegetables, and canned tuna or chicken as particular needs. It does not post drop-off times, so call 203-777-7848. Its list also covers household items for families.
The Community Soup Kitchen accepts unopened food at 84 Broadway on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m., and asks donors to schedule a drop-off first. It needs pasta and noodles, pasta sauce, oatmeal, canned vegetables, and seasonings of any kind. Volunteers sign up online.
DESK's donations center, 260 State St., is open Sundays through Thursdays, 1 to 4 p.m. Food must be uncooked or unopened, and winter gear is taken from November through March. Volunteers must be at least 12, and anyone under 16 comes with an adult; email volunteer@deskct.org or call 475-238-6170.
Loaves & Fishes takes canned goods, but it asks anyone planning a canned food drive to consider collecting money instead. Checks go to Loaves & Fishes, 57 Olive St., New Haven, CT 06511. Clothing is taken on Tuesdays and on Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m.; come in from the back parking lot off Chapel Street. Volunteers sign up on its volunteer page.
At Jewish Family Service, anyone who works directly with clients must be at least 18. People under 18 and groups can pack Food4Kids bags, with an adult present, from late September to early June, and JFS helps groups run food drives. Sandy Hagan coordinates, at shagan@jfsnh.org or 203-397-0796.
Junta takes shelf-stable food during business hours and on Saturday mornings.
The Dwight Community Fridge takes prepackaged meals, fresh produce, dairy, nonperishables, and snacks at the YMCA Youth Center, 50 Howe St., on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Volunteers help keep it stocked; email yhhap@dwighthall.org.
Saint Thomas More's soup kitchen takes volunteers for an hour on Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., and on Monday mornings to pick up food from Yale's dining halls. The sign-up button is on its page.
Sunrise Cafe links an Amazon wish list and its donation and volunteer pages from its website.
Connecticut Foodshare, which runs the mobile pantry, takes money, food drives, and volunteers through its website.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to live in New Haven?

Not at most of these places. The Community Soup Kitchen and Junta serve New Haven County, APNH's community days take anyone from the New Haven area, DESK welcomes everyone, and the mobile pantry asks no questions.

Do I need an ID?

None of the free meals listed here asks for one, and Foodshare says no ID is needed at the mobile pantry. Jewish Family Service may ask for a photo ID and proof of address, and DESK's Wednesday pantry asks for a short intake form.

Where can I get a meal on the weekend?

On Saturdays, the Community Soup Kitchen serves breakfast at 84 Broadway from 8 to 9 a.m., and the Yale Community Kitchen serves dinner there from 4 to 5 p.m. On Sundays, DESK hands out meals on the Green from 2:30 to 3 p.m. The Loaves & Fishes pantry is open Saturday mornings, and the Dwight Community Fridge is open both days from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Is there a free breakfast?

Sunrise Cafe serves breakfast on weekdays from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. at 57 Olive St. The Community Soup Kitchen serves breakfast on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at St. Martin de Porres Church in Dixwell, and on Saturdays at 84 Broadway.

Can someone bring food to my home?

LifeBridge's Meals on Wheels delivers on weekdays to people 60 and older who cannot leave home; call 203-752-9919.

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