The group told The Portugal News that “We wanted to do something for the local community here in Portimão and therefore the Soup Kitchen seemed an obvious choice as it's local and we get to see the results of our fundraising and through the volunteer work in the prep kitchens and serving the food.”

The Moonlight community are very generous with their time and donations, for example, “we recently put an urgent request out to the Moonlight group for funds for blankets and sleeping bags and have raised over 500 euros within 48 hours. What an incredibly generous and quick response!” Additionally, the Moonlighters has been involved with the Castelo de Sonhos shoe box campaign.

The Moonlighters also told The Portugal News “In this current world climate of need due to fuel costs rising and salaries not meeting the levels of inflation, more and more people across the globe are struggling to feed their bellies and those of their families. The Soup Kitchen here in Portimão provides a key service to a wide range of people who would otherwise go hungry or certainly not have sufficient funds to eat a hot meal every day. The current initiative of collecting blankets and raising funds to buy new ones has also grown out of a need from the clients of the soup kitchen, i.e., those who may not have funds to heat their home sufficiently or may not have a home at all. With the recent fall in temperature both day and night time we responded to an urgent request to source warm bedding for those clients in need.”

The group meets at the Moonlight bar on Tuesdays from 4:30pm in the winter and from 5:30pm in the summer. They also meet socially outside of the bar hours, e.g., at Dining events, book discussion groups, cycling and walking meet up’s etc. For more information on The Moonlighters please find their group by searching PTM Moonlighters on Facebook.

How to Support

The Portimão Soup Kitchen, located on Beco Sao Joao, Rua Sao Jose (down by the river close to the old bridge) has been running for almost thirteen years, serving about 200 takeaway meals three times per week (Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays).

There are many different ways you can support the Soup Kitchen: collecting donated food from supermarkets and delivering to the soup kitchen, buying food items with a long shelf-life e.g., tuna, sausages, milk, cereal, pasta, passata; buying disposable containers for the meals, contributing money to help pay the rent and utility bills, or coming in person to help cook, clean, make sandwiches and serve.


You could also help by donating items of men’s clothing, for example: shirts, jumpers, trousers, shoes, jackets. At this time of year, blankets and sleeping bags are also in high demand. If you would like to help in any way please call or email Joy Tel: 917 358 098, email: borganjoy@gmail.com.