Downey mom gets huge surprise to help her make her daughter's quinceañera possible

DOWNEY, Calif. (KABC) -- To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we've been asking viewers to tell us about those who are deserving of a little recognition, and the SoCal Honda Dealers stepped in to help us.

Downey resident Denise Juarez has two daughters, one who is about to celebrate her 15th birthday and another who is turning 16 years old.

But instead of planning a quinceañera and a sweet 16 party, Juarez was dealing with her own health struggles.

"I was diagnosed with cancer, I had a double mastectomy and it's now been four weeks," she said. "So I'm still healing. But I did get some good news, I'm cancer free! They were able to get all the cancer."

Now, she said she was faced with spending money to celebrate her daughter's quinceañera, or pay her medical bills.

This week, she was surprised by a visit from a Helpful Honda person, who had a random act of helpfulness for her.

They said they heard Juarez had been struggling, but trying to do everything she could to make her daughter's quinceañera and sweet 16 parties memorable, and they wanted to help.

Juarez and her daughters were shocked to hear that the surprise was that all of the rental fees were now taken care of, so the party can go on as planned.

And one more surprise: she was getting $1,000 to offset medical costs.

Denise and her daughters were overwhelmed, and she said she was shaking because she had no idea.

"After being sick and so scared that I wasn't going to be here, I wanted to make it happen because I'm so proud of my daughters. But I'm also grateful to be able to be here for their quinceañera and their sweet 16," she said.

"I feel so blessed and so fortunate because I know there are so many people who need it. But really, at this time, my girls are my life."