Helping the helpers

Charity fundraisers are not uncommon. However, it is uncommon that

the event organizers outdo the participants.

Newport Beach’s Ed Eaton, founder of 123 Loan, a mortgage company

based in Aliso Viejo, held a charity golf tournament in July to raise

money for two local nonprofit organizations. The event brought in

$46,000, which was split between the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen and

Mika, two Costa Mesa charities.

After issuing a check to each organization for $23,000, Eaton and

his wife surprised the beneficiaries by presenting each of them an

additional $30,000 check from the Eaton Family Foundation.

Eaton established the foundation through his company, which

enables him to put away money and give back to the community.

Eaton, who grew up near Washington, D.C., said his father was a

good role model and was always giving back through the Boys Club and

the Rotary Club.

After being introduced to the soup kitchen five years ago, Eaton

said he has helped serve food and clean up on numerous holidays. With

the recent success of his business, he is now able to help out

financially, which is why he established the Eaton Family Foundation.

“We all think we do more than we actually do when it comes to

giving back to the community,” Eaton said. “These people are the

pillars of giving back to the community and speaking through their

actions.”

Through the foundation, Eaton helped soup kitchen founder Merle

Hatleberg pay off the nonprofit’s mortgage by giving her $45,000

earlier this year.

“I really think what Merle has accomplished is over the top,”

Eaton said. “What she gives of herself to the community is just very

special to the less fortunate people of the communities of Costa Mesa

and Newport Beach.”

Hatleberg, who founded the soup kitchen 19 years ago, recently

started an after-school tutoring program for kindergarten through

third-grade students who need extra help with their schoolwork. The

tutoring program is held in the soup kitchen building. Hatleberg’s

ultimate goal is to move the tutoring program to a separate facility.

Soup kitchen manager Shannon Santos, who is Hatleberg’s

granddaughter, said Someone Cares is looking into expanding the

tutoring program, thanks to the donation.

“Ed’s vision of what he wants to see happen to the soup kitchen,

as far as expanding the tutoring program, goes hand-in-hand with what

the soup kitchen is planning,” Santos said. “He’s just a very

down-to-earth person who has a passion for educating children and is

doing something about it.”

Eaton said he was impressed with the work of Mika, a Christian

organization committed to community development on the Westside of

Costa Mesa. That’s why he organized the golf tournament to benefit

Mika.

“It’s so incredible what their drive is and what they’ve

accomplished,” he said.

Lindsy Pike, one of Mika’s founders and the youth development

director, said she was blown away by Eaton’s financial commitment to

helping the organization fulfill its goal of reaching out to youth in

the community.

“We’ve been able to hire more staff people that enables us to

reach more teens and children,” she said.

For more information about Mika, call (949) 645-0075 or visit

o7www.mikacdc.comf7.

For more information on Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, call (949)

548-8861 or visit o7www.someonecaressoupkitchen.comf7.

* LINDSAY SANDHAM is the news assistant. She can be reached at

(714) 966-4625 or o7lindsay.sandham@latimes.comf7.