Someone Cares Soup Kitchen

**NEVER GOING HERE AGAIN** I don’t typically write reviews, but this was too ridiculous not to…
If it was possible to give this place a 0 star, I would. Never have I ever encountered more rude people in my entire life. If it weren’t for all of the volunteers, I doubt Someone Cares Soup Kitchen would be open today due to the fact that it is run by extremely unorganized, disrespectful people. I woke up at 6am to volunteer here on a Sunday, ready to help the less fortunate, and rather than enjoy my experience, I was SO turned off by the way I was treated. Where do these people get off thinking that just because you’ve been doing this for 17 years and it’s a good cause, that you can treat adults like shit?!
You’d think that after all of the other negative Unilocal reviews, they would change their attitude.
My friend and I were told to go to the kitchen (without any instruction on what to do) and after asking for a task in the kitchen, we were told to go back to the dining room. All of the staff treats you as if they want you out of their way. Then why allow volunteers?!
To sum this place us in 2 words, UNORGANIZED & DISRESPECTFUL

I volunteer with Mariners Church on a monthly basis at this place. I love it. The volunteers all do such great work. I truly feel the presence of God here, and love to watch the beauty that unfolds whenever I am present.

I volunteered and found it very rewarding. The staff is very nice in the cook herself is just a blessing to be around. If you are ordered to do community service or you just want to step out and do something good for the community and experience it I would highly recommend this place. By the way the people that come in to eat are just so thankful as well

I have volunteered o we the course of 5 yrs, the head chef I think her name is Lori, really knows how to get the most out of her kitchen staff! She’s smarty quick and funny, it has been very rewarding for me! I gotta get back in that kitchen!

I don’t know what people are talking about Lori is so nice! Sure she gets sassy but who wouldn’t when you have to feed so many people. The time goes by fast and it’s rewarding. I have to do community service but I definitely am going to continue doing all my hours here!

I volunteered on a day where a bunch of people from this Christian school came to help out. They were so warm and friendly. Loved their sense of togetherness. Wish I remembered some of their names and what school they came from. As for the staff here, I helped Mike do inventory by moving and rotating things from various coolers. Then a van dropped off boxes of produce and huge bags of bread; we sorted them accordingly into crates and moved them inside. I learned a couple new things from Mike; very humble and peaceful guy.

OKAY… So here is what you should know… some people come here on their own to volunteer their time to help out… and some people come here because the COURT has mandated it. So the people you will be working for can be a little gruff at first because they sometimes have to be hard-​asses to the people who are here against their will.
That being said, they definitely are providing aid to some people who are in real need, this place is busy so def come ready to work. If you know your way around a kitchen (restaurant) then let them know… I helped cook in the kitchen. You might be placed on the food line (like cafeteria style) to scoop out food… you might be handing out trays and silverware or clearing plates…
I think that if you come with the right attitude then it will be a good experience. PS park behind the building in the back.,.

How do I WARN any future do gooders.
It’s a good thing that this place exists. But if the director Kim and her husband can’t appreciate all the volunteers that they get to do the work for free, then they will be the cause of this place falling apart if no one helps and they have to do their own work.
Our kids, with their busy schedule, volunteers once a month. Every time they do this, Kim yells at them when they work, she tells them to do one thing and yells at them for not doing other things that they weren’t told to do. If she’s that unorganized, there needs to be a better person directing the workers and the program.
As for her husband, if he tells the workers that he’s gonna ask them to leave if they can’t each do the work of 3 people and that they can’t read his little mind, he will get his wish. No body wants to be yelled at for helping.
Bottom line, our kids will spend their valuable time helping other causes that actually appreciates people’s time and effort.

Been there a few times on the weekends to help serve breakfast to the guests (people who come to eat at the soup kitchen). The shift begins with prepping, cleaning, sorting, washing, and chopping. Cooking is assigned to the regulars. There are a variety of volunteers — groups (church, professional, social etc) looking to give back to the community, high school kids looking for volunteer hours, and court-​assigned people completing their community service hours — working together with the staff to put out a good meal for the guests. It does get crazy and hectic, but the supervisor has the system down pat!
Breakfast consists of oatmeal, eggs, meat (sausage or bacon), pancakes or toast, mixed fruit, yogurt, dessert, milk, punch, or water. Menu changes depend on what foods were donated. As breakfast may be the guests’ only meal that day, the soup kitchen also provides bagged goods for them to take away at the end of the meal.
The group (up to 10 people) who reserved the volunteer shift is usually at the service line serving the food directly to the guests; each volunteer is assigned a dish or two. In order to get food, each guest must have a tray, plate, and utensils. Some of the guests have dietary restriction and are watchful of what they eat. They are allowed to come to the service line up to 3 times during the meal.
The service is roughly from 9 – 11, and all volunteers work as a team greeting guests, serving, cooking, and replenishing food. Once service ends and the guests leave with bagged food items, the volunteers and staff clean, wipe down, vacuum, wash dishes, and put away stuff. Volunteers can take breaks in between and can eat breakfast with the guests, but often times, we are too busy to do so. Also, we want to make sure the guests eat first.
Someone Cares Soup Kitchen feeds over 300 people per day, 7 days a week. The soup kitchen is frequented by the following groups:
* 25% are families with school aged children
* 30% are the homeless
* 20% are the working poor or unemployed
* 10% are the mentally or physically challenged
* 15% are senior citizens
They need lots of help with serving, prepping, and cleaning up. Besides providing meals, they also have after school program during the school year. For those looking into volunteering hours, available shifts are
Monday — Friday: 9:00 — 12:00, 12:00 — 4:00, 9:00 — 4:00
Saturday — Sunday: 7:30 — 12:00
You do see some regular guests dining here, and all the guests are very cordial and polite. If you can, help out by volunteer or donate what you can! They take clothing, books, supplies, etc.
TIP:
1. The Soup Kitchen can accommodate volunteer group of up to 10 people with prior notice. During the school year, weekend shifts are usually booked 2 – 3 months in advance.
2. Volunteer’s mnimum age requirement: 15 years old
3. Dress code — closed toed shoes, hair pulled back or wear hair net, no tank tops
4. No Cell Phone Use during volunteer shift — you can take photo at the end of the shift with the staff, but during service, do not take pictures to preserve guests’ privacy

I am a high school student and came with my fellow board members to check this place out and we were trying to see if this place could be used for volunteering. Would i come here again? No I would not. This place is a very giving and a caring place, but the lady in charge, Kim, was very strict and yelled at you if you did something wrong. She had an angry tone when she said something which made us feel belittled. Also, she yelled at all the staff for not getting someone to help her when she had to deal with a fight. (How would we know you were in a fight while we were inside…)
I was put on sorting produce in the back and there were many boxes of stuff varying from breads, fruits, meats. The guy specifically told us that if it was rotting or had mold or other gross things on it and you wouldnt feed it to your family, then throw it out. So i asked if i could throw the onion which had mold on it out, but they said no and kept it. This place is very unorganized and is hard to work in this kind of enviroment. I hope this place will change and get better, but in the meantime, it is not a good place to volunteer.

It’s so wonderful to see an non profit such as this doing such a rewarding thing for the community.
Regardless if there might be rude workers or that the fact that this place can be chaotic a times /​unorganized here; this is a place where you volunteer to feed those who need help.
So people should just suck it up, stop complaining & do whatever it’s necessary to help out. Because here, they are most times understaffed while they’re trying to feed hundreds of people.
It isn’t easy work here since it’s a soup kitchen but in the end it’s so rewarding to see the smile on people’s faces & appreciation that you receive after working hard during your volunteer shift.
Tip: If you have a group of volunteers wanting to volunteer, just call & schedule something with them.
Dress code — closed toed shoes, long hair pulled back, no tank tops.
It would be great if more restaurants/​super markets could donate their foods to places like this.

Tried volunteering for two hours & I couldnt do it. Just so you know there was a lot of us that sunday. Some workers were rude & were yelling if you werent doing anything (most of us were waiting for something to do since there were more people than tasks). I understand places like these get busy & people work under stress but come on, it wouldnt hurt to be polite! One of the guys in charge said «we’re not valuable» if we just stood around & that we were failures if we werent’ busy (WTF).
The place was very unorganized & was just a bad experience. Would not recommend it. The main woman, was so rude& when I pulled out my phone to text my mom back, she said I could leave if I wanted to & that her even her «high schoolers» didnt even use their phones in attempt to be rude & just mean.
Skip this place& find somewhere else to volunteer.
Never going back.

I will never understand some people. How do you write a bad review for a soup kitchen that feeds hundreds of hungry people daily?
If you are interested in helping out your local community, or just looking for some volunteer hours for school, Someone Cares Soup Kitchen is a great place. And whether you are assigned to help cook the actual meals in the kitchen or serve guests in the dining room, the experience of working together to help someone in need is extremely rewarding. Please don’t be discouraged by the couple of bad reviews below, which were probably written by a bunch of spoiled brats who expected to have their hand held the entire time.
The truth is, it takes a lot of work to feed up to 900 people during the course of a few hours. So anyone who has done this before knows that you need to be proactive in making use of yourself and finding areas where you can help the most. If you come here with a good attitude, you will end up meeting a lot of cool people and having a great time working hard. And that’s what it’s all about.
I was impressed with Someone Cares Soup Kitchen because they try to help people out with more than just a meal. They accept donations for clothing, toys, fruit and packaged breads, which are also distributed daily to those who need them. The staff that runs this place might run a tight ship, but they truly do care about serving and helping people in need. And the volunteers in the kitchen really do put a lot of effort into the food that is being cooked and take pride in what they serve. I have had the privilege of working at Mary’s Kitchen in Santa Ana as well, and these soup kitchens are two of the few places in Orange County that are making a tangible difference in people’s lives, each and every day.
So if you are considering doing some volunteer work here, just show up on time in the morning and expect to get your hands dirty. I for one am glad I did, and look forward to coming back in the future.

I learned about this place when my son volunteered here for his high skool community hours. (I personally think those little bastards should have to do 40 hours each summer.)
So when I saw that my company had huge amounts of leftovers after big functions, I started bringing all of the uneaten food here.
I’m moving at the end of the month, and this place will be ideal: All of my old spices, half bags of Japanese rice and frozen veggies can be donated.
Don’t throw food out – bring it here!!!

The head lady in charge (Kim) can be a witch to some people, but if you get to know her and see what type of people she has to deal with you may understand why. At first I didn’t like her because she seemed rude to everyone. She seems to have been through a lot and deals with a bunch of delinquents as well as crazy people from the public. I’ve seen it all. This place is not bad if you volunteer. You get fed in the end! I didn’t know this place gave out free clothes too. Some of them take advantage though. So sad. I do like how Trader Joe’s donates a lot of food to this place. Makes me want to shop with them more often. The one funny thing I learned about the people here is that they only serve decaf coffee to the public because some of them can get a little crazy if caffeinated. Some are hella rude too! Like psychotic…

Volunteered here today w/​my co-​workers & it was awesome! We prepped the meal for today & sorted through clothes for their «thrift shop» inside the kitchen. It was such a great experience & will def. recommend volunteering here to everyone. The lady who runs the show was awesome & has a great story that made me tear up.
On another note… I was very impressed w/​what they put out for the homeless to eat… everything is fresh product & delicious I might add. I wasn’t expecting to be cooking from scratch today… down to peeling potatoes, carrots, cutting up fresh fruit, etc. etc. etc.
100% recommend volunteering your time here.

Someone Cares Soup Kitchen is wonderful, and the food served to the homeless is the best in town. The fruits and vegetables are always fresh. I’ve been volunteering for years and it’s a great experience. The Chef/​Supervisor Lorrie Sanchez knows her stuff, and is always helpful with a smile. Lorrie trains all the volunteers and manages the kitchen & dining volunteers and supervises/​coordinates all food donations on top of doing all the cooking. This lady is a Goddess in the kitchen, and makes amazing dishes. I love helping the homeless and eating the awesome cuisine is a big perk.
Thank you for all you do for our community.
Ms. Costa Mesa
Amber Thorne
P. S. Hey Volunteers here’s some DIRECTIONS — if you see trash on the floor pick it up, check the laundry (washer/​dryer), in the trash can with towels & aprons, ding dong! clean everything always. Thanks

Four of us volunteered to help out on Christmas Eve. They are open 7 days a week, closed only a few holidays (Christmas Day being one of them). They have two shifts 9am and 1pm, if you volunteer, they prefer you arrive at the start of a shift instead of showing up in the middle. Lorrie was helpful. We met a young man who works there and he was grateful that the 4 of us took on all the dish washing for the 1pm shift. He said otherwise he does it all himself. It was a rewarding experience for each of us.
They also take donations — soap, toothpaste, and travel size bottles of shampoo, conditioner. There website lists what they need/​accept. I brought in a bag of handmade scarfs and they accepted them. I noticed a shelf of books and will be making a donation of books also.

I volunteered there after reading about Costa Mesa’s mayor trying to shut it down for idiotic reasons. Like another Unilocaler said, to volunteer on weekends during the breakfast shift, just show up at 7:30 and expect to stay until 12:00.
The staff was really nice and so were all of the folks that came through to eat. A lot of the volunteers seemed to be regulars or people who had come for multiple weeks in a row — high school students, a church group, etc. First-​timers like me were given random tasks cleaning and organizing the dining room and the side area that has a food pantry and free clothes. I think if you organize a group of 5+ and RSVP, then you can serve the food.
It’s a bit chaotic with all the volunteers and the patrons, and sometimes you’re given contradictory directions or no directions, but just roll with it, be nice, and have fun. Staff were welcoming and friendly, treated the patrons respectfully and knew many of them by name. They prided themselves on providing a hearty and well-​made meal. I spent most of my time at the food pantry where folks can pick up free food to go, like fruit and bread, and I was surprised at how nice everyone was. They smiled, were upbeat, followed the rules, said thank you.
I’m just saying, if I didn’t have a place to live, lost my job or had a crap job that didn’t pay enough to feed my kids, got caught up in drugs, or had mental health issues, or whatever other challenges folks there were facing, I am sure I would be bitter and angry and not willing to smile just cuz some well-​meaning but sheltered girl with an easy life wanted to do community service. And, at least in that space, no one was like that. What generosity of spirit.

Don’t get me wrong. I like the place’s cause in helping the homeless. However, my volunteer experience here was horrible. The only rewarding part that I got to take home from this experience was seeing the homeless smile when I served them fruit.
For those of you who are in high school, college or need some volunteer experience within the OC area, please read this review thoroughly before you commit yourselves to this place.
1. The staff is a hit & miss. There are 2 ladies in charge of this place. I will not state their names, but one of them is HORRIBLE. I will go in more detail about this later.
2. You will meet nice people (and by people, I mean VOLUNTEERS, not the staff). I’ve met some high schoolers, and individuals who were doing county service.
3. DO NOT grab a red apron unless you get a staff member’s approval. Apparently that’s the rule. I got scolded for getting one. -.- I mean, come on now.
4. Smile when you serve. The homeless really do appreciate your work.
Okay, enough of the pointers… I will go on about my experience:
Maybe I look young for my age, but I am a grown 23 year old and I do not deserve to be treated with utter disrespect by a staff member. First of all, you should be grateful that I am even coming to this place to help out. I was able to endure my time there by just reiterating, «I’m helping the homeless, not you,» 100x in my head.
I was in charge of helping with organizing the food table. I helped get tubs of hot water that will heat the food during service. I helped mop the floors, and everything. It was a humbling experience for me and I did not complain about my work. HOWEVER, I did not like how I was treated by this specific woman.
She doesn’t run the kitchen. Does that narrow it down for you? She’s in charge of the dining area. I was helping other volunteers clear out the refrigerator by throwing out expired contents. I found a plastic fork inside and I proceeded to throw it out — because God knows how long it has been there and how much microbial stuff may have grown on it.
When I threw it out, she YELLED at me and said, «What the heck are you doing? Take that out of the trash can and put it back with the other utensils.» O_​O Excuse me? Yes, kids… she told me to take the fork out of the trash can and put it in the utensils bin. She didn’t even tell me to wash it. o_​O Who hired her?
She makes others feel like an idiot and clueless. I understand from her point of view that things need to get ready ASAP because it can get pretty busy in the morning. However, that does not grant you the privilege nor the right to be condescending to others. They are volunteers so save your drama and be nice to others. Isn’t that what the soup kitchen’s message is about?
Students, come volunteer at this place at your own risk. You do not need another «parent» to yell at you in real life anyway. I recommend other soup kitchens such as St. Joseph’s Loaves & Fishes — the staff there is nicer.
Despite my horrible experience with the staff — I have to say that it’s nice knowing that I made a difference in someone’s life. A warm meal may soften and warm the heart — unfortunately not for that one woman.
Toodles. ~