Shalimar center to pair up with soup kitchen

The Someone Cares Soup Kitchen board made the final decision Wednesday

to allow a new Shalimar Learning Center branch to open in its building.

The kitchen, which will be renamed the Someone Cares Learning Center,

is scheduled to open Feb. 26 in the Shalimar model of providing tutoring

and educational assistance for children.

The Costa Mesa center will target children at Pomona and Rea

elementary schools and children living in shelters, motels and parks who

already eat at the soup kitchen.

Staffers at both organizations are now working to set up a parent

meeting and to recruit volunteers, said Laura Johnson, executive director

of the Shalimar Learning Center.

The board of Think Together, which oversees Shalimar and six other

learning centers, approved the plan a week ago, after the Shalimar

steering committee approved the plan in December.