11/03/2011
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Merle Hatleberg, who at the time was working as a Costa Mesa site director for an Orange County seniors program, founded the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in 1986. Each day Merle had numerous people coming to the door at her work place who were hungry but didn't qualify as seniors for feeding. Many of these "people" were school-aged children. She was usually able to slip them some food, but 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 thirty 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 fundraiser's, the Soup Kitchen was able to purchase a building that used to be a Chinese restaurant. For the past six years, we are proud, along with our dedicated staff and over 150 active volunteers, to have kept the doors open at our location and given our guests a place that they know they are always welcomed.
