Someone Cares Soup Kitchen was selected as Best Charity by OC Weekly

OC Weekly named Someone Cares Soup Kitchen as Best Charity of 2010 for Orange County! Just a testimony to the amazing work that Someone Cares does for the Homeless and Hungry!

I want you to meet some of the Someone Cares volunteers, staff and most of all guests!

Someone Cares Soup Kitchen serves a hot, nutritious meal to more than 400 guests a day. To see it in action is nothing short of amazing!

I want to introduce you to a few of Someone Cares volunteers, staff and most of all the guests. Over the next three weeks we will be shooting live video so that you can meet the guests at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen and learn more about them and how they found themselves in such a very difficult place in their  life (usually a place that they never thought they would find themselves in). You will also hear about how thankful they are to receive a hot, nutritious meal and also all the unconditional love and support they receive.

Please take a moment and watch this heartfelt kickoff video so that you are able to better understand the Soup Kitchen...

Someone Cares Soup Kitchen is a Magical Place!

Someone Cares is nothing short of Amazing! Not only providing a hot, nutritious meal to more than 400 homeless and hungry people each and every day but also provide a full daily tutoring program for 45 children, toiletry items/socks every Tuesday, clothing on weekends and even haircuts once a month! Take a look for yourself!

How the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen got started...

Merle Hatleberg founded the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in 1986 with a vision, $600 and a soup pot. Before retiring as the Orange County seniors program director in Costa Mesa she had numerous people coming to the door at her work place who were hungry but did not qualify as seniors for feeding. Many of these "people" were school-aged children and the working poor. She was usually able to slip them some food, but realized there was an unmet need that was deeply troubling to her.

Drawing on her own meager funds, she bought a large pot and made her first pot of soup on June 15, 1986. That first day, Merle served about 30 people and the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen was born. From 1986 until 1997, the Soup Kitchen served its meals setting up in local churches or at the Rea Community Center in Costa Mesa. In 1997, with the help of many local business fundraisers, Merle was able to purchase a building at 720 W. 19th Street (the current home today). 

Someone Cares has grown to be the largest Soup Kitchen in Orange County serving more than 400 homeless and hungry people a day a hot, nutritious meal seven days a week. Someone Cares is not only a Soup Kitchen but also has a tutoring program for 45 at risk children each day with a staff of three full time teachers. On Tuesdays, Someone Cares guests are provided with toiletry items, socks and clothing.

Unfortunately Merle passed away in 1997 but her vision shines even brighter today twenty five years later. Even though in her last years she was nearly deaf, confined to a wheel chair and battled with breast cancer she still made it to the Soup Kitchen daily to feed the less fortunate and provided much need love. 

Merle's belief was simple... she believed that no one should go to bed hungry, on the street or otherwise!

.

More than 600 People with Huge Hearts have been part of the Holiday Campaign...

In the last 3 years there has been more than 600 people with huge hearts making a Difference for the Homeless and Hungry! It is amazing feeling knowing that you can impact so many lives during the holiday! Please take a look at our picture gallery on our Facebook Page (click here for pictures) to see more than 1,200 pictures of your friends, family and work colleagues!

If you have not already "liked" the Someone Cares Holiday Campaign Facebook page please do so.

Thought for the Day...
For $1.33 the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen can feed a hot, nutritious meal to a hungry & homeless person. Just imagine how many people Someone Cares can feed with what most people spend on coffee at Starbucks each month!

Get Ready for an Amazing Holiday Campaign... $100,000 Goal!

This will be the 4th year that I have been involved in the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen Holiday Campaign. The last three years have been nothing short of amazing! However this year will top them all! The Someone Cares Soup Kitchen has continued to feed more than 400 homeless and hungry people every day in spite of donations continuing to decline due to the economic climate. This is why it is so important that this year we reach our goal of $100,000! More than 400+ people who receive a hot, nutritious meal each day are counting on us!

The team that has been assembled for the Holiday Campaign is nothing short of stellar! We have many seasoned veteran team members coming back for their 2nd, 3rd and 4th year. In addition we have new dream team members that are so excited to get involved and make the $100,000 goal a reality!

This year we have an all new website... http://www.ocsoupkitchen.org (click here). There are so many ways to get involved... corporate sponsorships, financial donations, toy drive, socks of love drive, warm coat drive and our annual BIG Volunteer event where we have over 200 volunteers!

Please make sure and go to our Facebook Page (click here) and hit "like". You can also follow the holiday campaign on twitter (click here). If you could let your friends, family, work colleagues... in essence everybody about the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen Holiday Campaign I would greatly appreciate it! We will need everybody's help to hit our $100,000 goal!