One Table event supports graduation effort

Year Two for the One Table Community Dinner proved a success Sunday evening, raising money for a United Way education program.

About 300 people dined at dozens of regular-size tables laid end to end on a block of 15th Street in Modesto. They paid $125 each to support Graduation Coach, which provides mentors for at-risk students and their parents at seven schools.

The event will net about $30,000, said Sarah Jamieson, vice president for fund development at the United Way of Stanislaus County. It put on the event with Datapath Inc., a technology management company based in Modesto, and several other sponsors.

Six local restaurants and a cooking school provided the food, and E.&J. Gallo Winery supplied the drinks. The meal started with deviled eggs and other appetizers from Concetta and moved into cheese, fruit and nuts from Camp 4. Food Fix served up a pork belly appetizer, followed by salad and bread from Vito’s Ristorante. The entree was braised leeks and pickled spring vegetables from Commonwealth and pomegranate-soy glazed short ribs from Redwood Café. The Institute of Technology made brownies with peanut butter mousse and other toppings.

The United Way runs Graduation Coach with the Center for Human Services. It started in 2013 and now is at Downey High School and six junior high schools – Hanshaw, Prescott, Salida, Waterford, Creekside and Walnut Grove. Each coach works with about 35 families.

“We’ve had really good results,” said Francine DiCiano, president and chief executive officer at the United Way chapter. “We’ve seen GPAs go up. We’ve seen attendance go up. We’ve seen discipline problems go down.”

This story was originally published May 15, 2016 at 8:02 PM with the headline "One Table event supports graduation effort."