Fresno Chief of Police Paco Balderrama serves a family at the One Table Fresno event in 2021. Fresno Mission photo.

The Fresno Mission, in coordination with the Central California Food Bank, is celebrating its second “One Table” event to provide a hot meal, winter coats and community connection to those suffering from life insecurities.

The event on Nov. 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. will take place at 2025 E. Dakota Ave, the future home of City Center, a 165,000-square-foot facility located at the heart of Fresno.

With a soft opening scheduled in January, the center aims to provide a one-stop-shop for individuals suffering from homelessness, food insecurity and other hardships faced by the community.

The concept of the One Table event originated from Fresno Mission CEO Matthew Dildine. 

Together, Matthew and his wife Kym, who is the Co-CEO of the Central California Food Bank, envisioned a concept where those serving were, in this case, the donors and benefactors of the two nonprofit organizations.

“From a scriptural standpoint, in the Bible, it actually tells us who we’re supposed to invite to our banquets — we’re not supposed to invite just all of the good-looking, smart, rich people; we’re supposed to invite the lame, the destitute, the broken,” Matthew said.

Last year, the event took place on H Street in Downtown Fresno, between Tulare and Inyo streets adjacent to Chukchansi Park. Matthew said the table in 2021 spanned at least several hundred yards. 

“We’ve gone bigger than last year,” he said. “This year we’ll distribute over 2,000 coats. We’ll provide over 2,000 holiday meal boxes to get people through the holidays.” 

In addition to coats and meals, over 1,000 blankets will also be distributed, with attendees also invited to receive free flu and COVID vaccines on site.

There will also be fun activities for children including bounce houses, cookie decorating, games and a hot chocolate bar.

“We hear a lot from our donors that they want to tangibly help in addition to giving cash donations, but they just don’t always know how,” Kym said. “Coming up with this event in November really helps them activate their teams and be a part of the community in tangible ways.”

The event is sponsored by more than 50 businesses and organizations including JD Foods, Amazon and Family Healthcare Network.

Local public officials will also be in attendance, with Mayor Jerry Dyer and Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama returning for their second year, in addition to City Councilmembers Nelson Estrada and Tyler Maxwell, and others.

“We’re certainly looking for more sponsors for this event,” Matthew said. “We don’t solicit any funds, obviously, on the day of the event.” 

Sponsor and volunteer signups for the event are still being accepted at onetablefresno.com.