Cecily Ballungay smiled as she chatted with elected officials, developers and the titans of Manteca’s businesses community beneath a shade structure at the Matthews home at Delicato winery.

She was social – stopping to chat with everybody who had gathered for a celebration of the Summer Solstice and a chance to make a difference in the community.

Because even among this crowd and in this setting, where people paid $125 each to attend, Ballungay was representing Manteca’s homeless families as the Executive Director of HOPE Ministries – doing the work, she said, that was so essential to make a difference in the lives of the disenfranchised and less fortunate who need a little bit of extra help to make it to where they need to be.

“Everybody understands that this is our community, and you learn quickly that any community is willing to take care of its own,” said Ballungay at the fundraiser. “Having the support of people in the business community is critical because it symbolizes that people are willing to come alongside us and support our mission.

“You can just really see the support that these people are willing to give and it’s great.”

The annual “Summer Solstice” party is just of a small number of fundraisers that the organization has every year. It serves the critical function of providing much-needed funds to execute the organization’s mission – those who attended represented only a handful of the people that purchased the pricey tickets. It was also a soiree to allow other businesses and organizations to network and learn about what it is HOPE Ministries offers the community.

Manteca City Councilman Rich Silverman said that Thursday’s gathering was a sign of the huge cross-section of the community – be it business leaders or those working for or with other non-profits – that has come to support HOPE Ministries and the efforts that they make to assist others.

“It’s important to support them and the wonderful work that they do for our community,” Silverman said. “This is ‘The Family City’ and with love and affection we come together and take care of the less fortunate and groups like this that do the good work.

“We were just talking about how the business community has an obligation to give back, and that’s what you see happening right now.”

And it has been a productive year for HOPE Ministries.

According to Board President Jennifer Gibson-Greenwood, Thursday’s gathering marked the one-year anniversary of when she brought Ballungay, who then worked with United Way, to the mixer as a way to introduce her to the organization and try and solicit her experience away to overhaul the framework of the organization responsible for Manteca’s first homeless shelter and a blossoming portfolio of other endeavors.

Gibson-Greenwood succeeded in landing her friend. She has since worked to ensure that the Board of Directors is active within the organization that they serve, and restructured agreements and relationships with the faith community to ensure that the needs of the families and the mothers and those transitioning into new lives are met.

“We were just voted ‘Non-Profit of the Year’ (by the Manteca Chamber of Commerce) and I think we received that because of the work that we’ve put in,” Gibson-Greenwood said. “There has been a lot of amazing work on behalf of the board and the people that support us to make sure that we’re in a good place, and a lot of people over the last year have stepped up to make sure that we have what we need and that only helps with what we’re trying to achieve.”