FOR A GOOD CAUSE:Year-round giving

With her children away at college and her workload light during the holidays, Sue Epstein decided to volunteer some of her time to the Adopt-a-Family holiday program run by Share Our Selves, a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit.

That was 18 years ago.

It’s the smiles of those they have served and the companionship they have found while contributing that keeps local volunteers like Epstein coming back, not just for the holidays but all year long.

For Epstein, a few hours at Christmastime has turned into a 40-hour-per-week commitment to the holiday program from late October through the end of December each year. Also, she volunteers once a week for the organization throughout the year, offering financial counseling to locals in need.

“I found it a fun and worthwhile thing to do,” Epstein, 68, said. “As the years went on, I got more and more involved.”

Vanessa Ontiveros, special projects coordinator for Share Our Selves, admires Epstein’s enduring dedication to the Adopt-a-Family program, as well as her leadership abilities and quick wit.

“She’s here when we get here, and she’s here when we leave,” Ontiveros said. “She puts her own life on hold for the needs of this program.”

Epstein uses the “small hours of the morning” to focus on her profession as a technology and management consultant while the Adopt-a-Family drive is running and makes it a point to work in family visits during her time off. But she doesn’t mind the long hours — in fact, she enjoys them.

“Sometimes people forget that when you volunteer, it’s actually fun,” she said. “The thing I enjoy is not only serving the people, but I have made incredible friends throughout the years.”

Like Epstein, Betty Hart enjoys the feeling of camaraderie that comes with volunteering. For 15 years, she has been giving several hours each week to the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa.

A Huntington Beach resident, Hart joins two other volunteers at the soup kitchen for three hours Monday through Thursday to offer free, individualized tutoring to 45 kindergarten through third-grade students from a local elementary school.

“I love seeing the success in how these children are learning each day,” she said. “That and being around kids.”

In addition to tutoring, Hart spends Friday afternoons at the kitchen helping serve 50 gallons of soup to anybody who comes in looking for a meal. She especially loves the pozole.

“It warms their stomachs and my heart when I see the gratitude and love that goes around that place,” Hart said.

For Linda DePaul, volunteering at the soup kitchen has been one of the best things she has ever done as an individual and community member. She knows hundreds of soup kitchen guests by name and makes a point to greet those she encounters while running errands around the city.

After volunteering with a neighbor one afternoon eight years ago, she now helps out at the kitchen every Wednesday afternoon, serving, cleaning and socializing with visitors. She loves cutting up cakes and pies to dole out, especially to senior citizens.

“Everyone knows Linda because she goes the full mile for her guests,” said Shannon Santos, general manager of Someone Cares Soup Kitchen. “She’s always on the floor refilling beverages and talking to people.”

The kitchen’s weekend supervisor, Kim Haina, had nothing but glowing remarks for one of her Saturday volunteers, James Raspe, drawing special attention to his commitment and reliability.

“James is here rain or shine no matter what happens in his life personally,” Haina said. “He works in the kitchen, which is the hardest place to be, and he loves it.”

Raspe came to the soup kitchen as a once-a-month volunteer, looking for a way to give back to the community. A year and a half later, the 40-year-old financial analyst is trying to improve his culinary skills while preparing breakfast every Saturday morning for guests at Someone Cares.

“That’s the best four hours of my week,” he said. “If I’m not there, I don’t feel right.”