Be Our Guest

free hot meal

Every Friday the Friday Night Supper Program (FNSP) provides a free nutritious meal to anyone who would like one. We are dedicated to offering an enjoyable meal in a safe, welcoming environment. No registration or sign up is required, no questions are asked. Everyone, including women and children, are welcome.

Where

Our meal is served out of the lower level of the Arlington Street Church in Boston every Friday between the hours of 5:00pm-7:00pm. Guests can begin to line up in the public alley off Arlington Street at 4:30pm.

What to expect

Our doors open up at 5:00pm. Guests are welcomed in to the hall and choose their own seating. For the first hour our guests can help themselves to soup, juice and coffee. Sometimes we also offer self-serve snacks during this time. Snacks vary depending on availability but are often something such as granola bars, fresh fruit or chips and salsa.

At 6:00pm we serve supper. We serve our guests at the table, restaurant style. The meal always consists of meat, vegetables and a starch (potatoes, rice, or pasta). Dessert is served immediately after dinner, usually at 6:30pm.

We serve one meal to our guests, which includes a vegetarian option. If we have extra food we will offer a to-go meal to our guests. We offer to-go meals starting at 6:00pm.

FNSP closes its doors at 7:00pm, at which point guests are asked to leave so that we may begin clean up.

Dining Rules at the FNSP

We ask all guests to conduct themselves in a manner that is respectful and courteous to other guests, volunteers and staff. No shouting, use of inappropriate language, drinking of alcohol, smoking or use of other drugs is permitted while you are a guest at the FNSP. Any guests involved in a physical or verbal altercation will be asked to leave. A to-go meal will be provided and those involved will be allowed to return the following week. At the end of the meal guests are asked not to congregate in the alley or in front of the church, but instead to move on to their intended destination. The FNSP provides a Women’s Only table for our female guests and their children. We ask that our male guests do not sit at this table.

Kathy’s Closet

The FNSP has a clothing closet from which we can provide clothing, shoes and toiletries. On the second and fourth Friday of the month, from 5:00pm to 6:00pm, guests can put in their request for clothing at the table on the stage. We ask that guests limit their requests each week to one items of clothing so that we have enough clothing to help everyone, and fill emergency orders from our guests who are in great need.

Following requests, Kathy’s Closet opens up at 6:30pm. Guests line up at the closet and our volunteers distribute clothing orders. We do our best to meet our guest’s clothing needs, but sometimes we do not have the items requested. In these instances we ask our guests to be patient and check in again the following closet week.

Our clothing closet is always in need of donations, particularly coats, shoes, boots and toiletries. Please contact us to make a tax-deductible donation

Resource Cards

The FNSP has a series of “People Cards” that provide information on free resources in Boston. We have one for Food and Shelter Resources, Health Care Resources and Useful Resources (Employment/Education Services, Legal Assistance etc). If you would like a copy of one or all of these resource cards, please ask our staff and/or volunteers on Fridays.