Soup Kitchen

COSTA MESA — Members of a national restaurant association combined their industry savvy to give a Costa Mesa soup kitchen one big treat: a $100,000 makeover. Volunteers from the Restaurant Facility Management Assn. renovated Someone Cares Soup Kitchen on 19th Street. They knocked down walls, converted an old freezer into a walk-in refrigerator, created a new storage area, installed an ice machine and dishwasher, replaced ceiling tiles and added stainless steel prep tables.

COSTA MESA — A local soup kitchen needs your help for Thanksgiving. The Someone Cares Soup Kitchen is short on turkeys and other food for homeless people on the holiday and needs donations, said Shannon Santos, the kitchen's executive director. The soup kitchen, which has been operating for more than 20 years, feeds more than 300 people every day, year-round. Donations can be dropped off at 720 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa. —Mona Shadia

COSTA MESA - Red, yellow and orange bell peppers were being chopped alongside iceberg lettuce. Juicy red strawberries were sliced, dainty mushrooms cut up. A stew of elk and lamb meat bubbled inside industrial-sized metal pots while steam rushed from others. Corona del Mar High School sophomore AJ Fischer, 15, worked in the middle of the active kitchen, mixing the ingredients for meatballs made from elk, venison and antelope as volunteers and kitchen staff prepared to feed hundreds.

Andrew Glazer COSTA MESA -- A local soup kitchen honored its volunteers and donors Wednesday night, and some volunteers threw the honor right back. "The food is always delicious here," said Dore Wilson, who ate prime rib, mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. "It's not like they say 'this is for the homeless, it doesn't matter if it tastes good.' " Wilson is someone who would know. She and her husband, Kurt -- along with their children Kory, 18; Kody, 13; and Karrin, 9 -- are all homeless.

About 200 volunteers gathered at a Costa Mesa car dealership on Saturday to wrap Christmas presents for needy children and stuff backpacks full of goodies like magnifying glasses and pill boxes for senior citizens. “It feels good to help people who aren’t as fortunate as the rest of Orange County this Christmas and let them know that they aren’t forgotten,” said Costa Mesa Resident Gena Van Horne, who volunteered her time on Saturday to wrap toy cars and Barbie dolls for local children.

Danette Goulet COSTA MESA - By this time last year, the office at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen was piled high with holiday gifts for needy children. But this year, there is plenty of room in the office. Just three boxes sit in one small stack. "I'm pushing the [panic] button here. We have no toys," said Merle Hatleberg, the soup kitchen's founder and director. "This time last year the place was filled." Hatleberg is sending out a distress call to the community, asking for donations of unwrapped toys so a 14-year tradition may continue.

Jennifer Kho COSTA MESA -- An unexpected donation of hundreds of books arrived at Shalimar Learning Center last week as its board of directors decided to add a satellite facility at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen. If the plan is approved by the soup kitchen and the board of Think Together, which oversees Shalimar and five other learning centers, the new facility could open in January, said Jewel Loff, Think Together's director of development. Shalimar provides tutoring and academic help for Westside students in first through 12th grades.

Newport Harbor Lutheran Church and the Hoag Hospital Foundation have committed to donating $20,000 this year to the Costa Mesa-based nonprofit the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen. The soup kitchen, which serves hot meals on a daily basis to needy people in Costa Mesa, has seen a drop in charitable donations in the past year because of the bad economy. The Rev. Brad Stienstra of Newport Harbor Lutheran gave the soup kitchen a check for the first installment of $6,000 on Thursday.

Lolita Harper What would a Segerstrom be doing at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen? Having dinner, of course. Anton Segerstrom, South Coast Plaza partner and son of a real estate mogul, is the honorary guest of the soup kitchen's 18th Anniversary and Flag Day party at 6 p.m. today. Someone Cares officials have taken painstaking efforts to decorate the humble soup kitchen into a patriotic party spot and culinary dining destination. "You wouldn't even recognize the place," soup kitchen manager Shannon Santos said.

Question: First, I'd like to tell you how much I love your column. I look forward to it every week. I can hardly wait until lunch to read it. I love your open-mindedness and appreciate your humor. Now, for the topic at hand: In 2007, I was at church during Divine Mercy Sunday and preparing for my confession. I was sitting by myself in the chapel, but there were several other people around talking quietly or meditating. All of a sudden, this "feeling" came over me. It was so incredible I had a hard time understanding what was happening.

COSTA MESA - The room was prepared just right for a family Thanksgiving - from the fresh flowers, to the festive tablecloths, candy strewn along the table and the smell of pumpkin pie in the air. Guests stood up and told the crowd of about 150 people what they were thankful for. After each spoke, the room filled with cheers, applause and supportive nods. Someone Cares Soup Kitchen Executive Director Shannon Santos calls her guests her extended family, carrying on the tradition of her grandmother and the soup kitchen's founder Merle Hatleberg.

COSTA MESA - Red, yellow and orange bell peppers were being chopped alongside iceberg lettuce. Juicy red strawberries were sliced, dainty mushrooms cut up. A stew of elk and lamb meat bubbled inside industrial-sized metal pots while steam rushed from others. Corona del Mar High School sophomore AJ Fischer, 15, worked in the middle of the active kitchen, mixing the ingredients for meatballs made from elk, venison and antelope as volunteers and kitchen staff prepared to feed hundreds.

COSTA MESA — A man has been sentenced to four years in prison for attacking a Costa Mesa soup kitchen volunteer with a metal pipe. Joseph Athelstan Patterson, 62, was sentenced Tuesday at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana for assaulting a man at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen on 19 t h Street on Jan. 31. In July, Patterson was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury. He was given a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily harm and using a dangerous or deadly weapon, according to court records.

SANTA ANA - The Irvine 11 appears poised to become the Irvine 10. The Orange County district attorney's office and defense attorneys on Thursday announced an agreement to dismiss the charges against one of the students if he completes 40 hours of community service in Costa Mesa. The students are accused of conspiring to interrupt and then interrupting Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's speech at UCI in February 2010. The charges against Hakim Nasreddine Kebir are expected to be dropped once he completes his community service hours at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen.

COSTA MESA — Members of a national restaurant association combined their industry savvy to give a Costa Mesa soup kitchen one big treat: a $100,000 makeover. Volunteers from the Restaurant Facility Management Assn. renovated Someone Cares Soup Kitchen on 19th Street. They knocked down walls, converted an old freezer into a walk-in refrigerator, created a new storage area, installed an ice machine and dishwasher, replaced ceiling tiles and added stainless steel prep tables.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Crissy Brooks, the executive director of MIKA in Costa Mesa, has agreed to do occasional columns for the Daily Pilot. This is her first. In a recent blog post, Councilwoman Wendy Leece asked, "Are Costa Mesans too compassionate?" Her question came out of the recent conversations about the homeless population in town. Some folks say that our neighbors experiencing homelessness are here because they are drawn by the overly compassionate in Costa Mesa.

COSTA MESA — At the third annual Someone Cares Soup Kitchen Thanksgiving Eve feast, the kitchen was abuzz as dozens of low-income and limited-income senior citizens from nearby Bethel Towers rubbed elbows with the homeless. "The price is right here, and it's something I need — that's for sure," said Lawrence Bubka, 83, who has lived in Costa Mesa for 20 years. He receives almost $900 in Social Security and disability checks a month. A former graphic artist and son of a Polish immigrant who came to California as a tailor in the early 1900s, Bubka dressed in a gray fedora and tweed jacket for Wednesday's meal.

COSTA MESA — A local soup kitchen needs your help for Thanksgiving. The Someone Cares Soup Kitchen is short on turkeys and other food for homeless people on the holiday and needs donations, said Shannon Santos, the kitchen's executive director. The soup kitchen, which has been operating for more than 20 years, feeds more than 300 people every day, year-round. Donations can be dropped off at 720 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa. —Mona Shadia

COSTA MESA — At least 300 less-fortunate people got to taste food and dessert on Wednesday served by four trendy food trucks participating in the upcoming OC Foodie Fest in Anaheim. Taco Dawg, Dos Chinos, Morsels Baking Co. and Tropical Shave Ice rolled into Someone Cares Soup Kitchen on 19th Street to serve hot lunches. Honest Tea served the beverages. "This was created with the desire by the food trucks to go out to the community and feed the people," said Shannon Santos, the soup kitchen's executive director.