Soup kitchen needs someone who cares

An influx of funding in the past few days has helped Costa Mesa’s Someone Cares Soup Kitchen raise thousands of dollars, but the Westside charity is still dangerously close to running out of money, according to Executive Director Shannon Santos.

She sent out an e-mail to supporters in the middle of last week and a letter Friday saying the nonprofit had only enough cash in the bank to sustain its operation for about two months.

Despite a surge in donations in the days since the pleas went out, that figure has not changed much, but the increased giving has raised the director’s morale.

“It charges your batteries to see that the community is supporting us and helping us out,” Santos said.

The soup kitchen serves one meal a day to the needy, who line up outside its building on 19th Street on weekday afternoons and weekend mornings. Each month, it costs Someone Cares about $23,000 in food, supplies and staff members’ salaries to provide the meals. Tutoring for local kids is also offered Monday through Thursday afternoons, but the cost is not a major part of the organization’s budget, Santos said.

Someone Cares has a few grant applications outstanding, and it’s approaching the holiday season, which typically provides a big boost in funding. Nonetheless, if nothing were to change, the soup kitchen might have to cut some days out of its serving schedule, which has never happened in its decades of existence.

For the time being, the director plans to stick with the nonprofit’s current levels of service. Any decisions regarding cuts would have to be made by the organization’s 11-member board of directors.

The kitchen serves about 300 people each day.