For David and Melinda Si, first came marriage then a small family business.
The couple arrived in the United States from their native Cambodia in 1990, the year they were married. Like many immigrants, they were looking for greener pastures in the land of Uncle Sam. They were ready, willing and able. But first, they needed to get their foot in the door, so to speak.
Their goal: to open a small donut shop. But neither of them had any knowledge nor experience when it came to making the popular and rich breakfast fare.
Enter David’s older brother who possessed both, having worked previously at a donut shop in Stockton. They found the perfect place for their Cater Donut Shop in the small corner neighborhood commercial center at the southeast corner of West Yosemite Avenue and South Union Road. The year after they got married, the David and Melinda opened their small business with the help of David’s brother, on a wing and a prayer and just plain hardworking immigrants’ grit to see them through.
Nothing has changed since that faltering beginning for the soft-spoken and quiet couple who do all things together when it comes to their livelihood, with a couple of exceptions. David’s brother retired a few years ago, and Cater Donut has a new name: Daily Fresh Donut.
But the 12-hour daily grind remains the same for David and Melinda. Their day begins at midnight when they prepare the flour mixture that is the first step in the donut-making process. David explained they use two 50pounds. bags of flour every day which they mix by hand. In fact, it’s hands-on every step of the way up to the point when the piping hot donuts of different varieties are loaded up in the shelf below the counter. Their customers get a fresh, hot-off-the-fryer donut each time, which they can purchase along with freshly brewed regular and decaf coffee, milk and other cold drinks.
Daily Fresh Donut offers the usual gamut of the tasty breakfast stuff – from donut holes, bear claws, twists, bars, and the traditional hole-in-the-middle – topped according to customer’s personal choice of chocolate, sugar, or syrup glaze.
David and Melinda’s day is done usually by noon, or when every sweet confection is gone, whichever comes first – all sold out, which is usually the norm rather than the exception.
In addition to catering to individual customers who stop by for their sweet treat either on their way to work, dropping off kids or grandkids to school, or to do the day’s errands, Daily Fresh Donut also supplies a few gas stations’ convenience stores with fresh donuts every morning.
In the nearly quarter of a century that they have been toiling to make their small business succeed, David and Melinda have also raised three children. The two older ones are now attending Delta College in Stockton, with the youngest one nearly finishing high school.
Through all those years, the couple has been active in the community that helped them build and maintain their business. For a number of years, Daily Fresh Donut has taken part in the annual summer social fund-raiser benefiting the Manteca Historical Society and Museum.
