Three win Red Cross awards

Deirdre Newman

A tragic family experience inspired 16-year-old Hayden Hutchison to

help others.

After her father succumbed to skin cancer, Hayden began

volunteering to help out with cancer patients and the children of

cancer patients.

On Thursday, the Orange County Red Cross honored Hayden with a

Clara Barton Spectrum Award for Outstanding Women in the youth

category. An $1,000 scholarship accompanied the honor, provided by

Ford Motor Co.

“She’s a remarkable young girl with a lot of courage and somebody

who’s really doing a lot for other kids who have gone through the

same tragedy that she has,” said Robert Tarleton, manager of Western

Region Community Affairs for Ford.

Also honored was Merle Hatleberg of Costa Mesa, founder of Someone

Cares Soup Kitchen. Hatleberg, 80, started the soup kitchen in 1986

with a single pot of soup. Her organization has evolved to feed about

250 people a day.

Hatleberg received the Humanitarian Award for improving the

quality of life in the community. The warmhearted Hatleberg, who has

eight children and 15 grandchildren, fosters a family atmosphere at

the soup kitchen.

“The most rewarding part is seeing the smiling faces on these

people, especially when kids come in hungry and leave with a full

tummy,” Hatleberg said, adding that she also started a tutoring

program a few years ago for children at Pomona Elementary School.

Hatleberg tries to help others as much as she can, even when it

requires spending her own money. Just recently, she put up a family

of seven at a hotel. She bemoaned the dwindling of donations in the

past year.

“Money is not coming in,” Hatleberg said. “It’s been bad for a

while. I’m not rich by any means, but I try to do as much as I can.”

Costa Mesa resident Layla Abdul received the Personal Achievement

award, given to someone who has overcome “extraordinary obstacles in

improving the quality of her own life or that of others in the

community.” Abdul could not be reached for comment.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.