Got to have Hart

Andrew Edwards

Local volunteers can rely on Betty Hart when they need some help

supporting Costa Mesa families in need.

“Betty is a person that I’m able to go to whenever something needs

to get done,” said Shannon Santos, general manager of the Someone

Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa. “She wears a lot of hats around

here; she’s always completely honest in what she does.”

Hart, 57, started volunteering at the Westside soup kitchen 14

years ago, after she read a notice in a local newspaper. Once she

started, she wasn’t able to stop.

“I just came, and I really enjoyed doing it; I enjoy helping

people,” Hart said. “It’s become a part of who I am.”

During her first 12 years with Someone Cares, Hart spent her

Fridays in the food line, dishing out clam chowder, chili and chicken

noodle soup to the kitchen’s hungry clientele. She still volunteers

on Fridays, and for the past two years, she has worked as an employee

for Someone Cares, tutoring children whose parents have limited

English-speaking skills.

She took the job after she was laid off from her position as a

teacher’s assistant in Huntington Beach. She works with students in

kindergarten through the third grade on math and reading exercises in

a section of the soup kitchen that looks like a mini-classroom,

decorated with a brightly illustrated alphabet and equipped with

donated computers.

The kitchen’s founder, Merle Hatleberg, credited Hart for her

abilities to work with needy children.

“She’s the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to us,”

Hatleberg said. “She is so good with the kids.”

Hart has noticed more and more people visiting the soup kitchen

since she started. There were about 100 regulars 14 years ago, she

said. Now, about 250 people regularly seek sustenance from Someone

Cares.

The lines at Someone Cares typically lengthen toward the end of

the month, when Social Security, welfare and disability checks start

to run out, Hart said. When the kitchen is really busy, as many as

300 people could drop by in search of food, but the team of

volunteers doesn’t mind the crowds.

“It’s just a lot of fun; it’s chaotic fun,” Hart said.