Harvard Square Churches Meal Program

The Harvard Square Churches Meal Program serves a community supper every Thursday evening to anyone who needs a meal. Started in June 1982 as a joint project of ten Harvard Square churches, it has served a weekly full-course, home-cooked dinner ever since. The meal is held in the fellowship hall of Christ Church Cambridge, and the aim is to offer nutritious food in a hospitable, welcoming setting.

Meals are served restaurant style, with volunteers bringing plates to guests at their tables and encouraged to talk with them. The program typically serves around 100 meals an evening and tries to have second helpings on hand. Volunteers come from the member churches, local schools including Harvard, Babson College and Cambridge Rindge & Latin, and the surrounding neighborhood, many of them returning for a decade or more.

What to Know

• Food preparation starts in the early afternoon, with cooking, serving and cleanup handled by volunteers.
• New volunteers can sign up through an online form.
• The program is a Cummings Foundation grant recipient.
• Donations can be made online to support the weekly meal.