EDITORIAL:

The Someone Cares Soup Kitchen offers a variety of services for the needy. You might think by its name that the volunteers there just serve meals to the poor.

But Someone Cares volunteers also provide rain ponchos when the weather’s bad or scarves and gloves when it’s cold, books to pass the time and for enrichment, and, most importantly, some minor medical care from volunteer physicians.

One might argue that the soup kitchen ought to just stick to dishing out grub and leave the tutoring services it provides the area’s needy children to the schools. It’s a valid point, but it’s wrongheaded, especially now with the economy so sluggish.

Sure, nonprofits like Share Our Selves offer most of the same services, but it’s not a competition, and there’s plenty of need. In this case, more is certainly better.

Neighbors bucked Someone Cares Soup Kitchen’s efforts to expand to set up a mobile classroom in its parking lot to provide a better learning environment for the tutoring.

Their concerns are valid and should be taken into consideration. They see some of the area’s homeless attracted to the soup kitchen misbehave and cause an assortment of problems.

But to say expansion or no expansion was a false choice. Unfortunately, it’s also a moot point since Someone Cares administrators pulled their request when neighbors protested. They just want to be good neighbors, they say.

That’s commendable. We say it’s up to the neighbors to return the sentiment.

We know how hard the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen leaders strive to conduct their activities in an orderly manner. For instance, they won’t serve the inebriated.

Instead of complaining, the neighbors should work with the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen leaders to see what can be done to improve the situation.

And while they’re at it, some of the neighbors might want to volunteer. If they saw what we’ve seen they’d know the soup kitchen is a loving, welcoming destination for those of us who are the most down on their luck.