CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) – A staple restaurant can keep you coming back for years. Case in point, Balboa South on Chula Vista’s Third Avenue.
“I’ve probably been coming to Balboa South for probably about 4 years now,” Angie Diaz said.
“I’ve been coming here for about; let’s say since they opened,” Fernando Mares said.
It can be for a special something, but sometimes it’s a special someone.
“It is Mariana that brings me here and her team and crews. It feels like a family,” Mares said.
“She was very welcoming; she invited us to come back, so that's why we kept coming back,” Diaz said.
Mariana Cardenas, the owner of Balboa South, is who’s kept people coming back. But recently, she’s been going through a tough time.
“I was in the hospital for 5 days, and then I had surgery the day afterwards, and then I'm on ongoing treatment for the next couple of months,” Cardenas said.
Cardenas has been helping children at Rohr Elementary with toy drives during the holidays for years. Something that ABC 10News has covered in the past.
“She's been, you know, a huge community supporter,” Katia Callahan said. “So, you know, as soon as she posted her condition, then we said, OK, let's do it.”
Katia Callahan helped organize a fundraiser at Balboa South Wednesday night for Cardenas. A flyer from organizers said it’s to help Cardenas, who they said is facing serious health challenges, and the proceeds will be for her medical expenses.
“It's been hard; it hit me like a ton of bricks from one day to the other. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't speak,” Cardenas said.
“That's when the community comes together, and I think the great thing is that, you know, when I discovered something, when you reach for help, people are ready to, to support,” Callahan said.
And plenty did come out to support Cardenas as she has for others in the South Bay, like the toy drives she’s done for Rohr Elementary that ABC 10News has covered.
“But to be on the other side and to be the one that needs help and to get the help in this magnitude, it is just something unbelievable and beautiful, and I can't describe it,” Cardenas said.
While she does still have more medical appointments in the future, this special someone had a pretty special Wednesday.
“It’s a fairy tale,” Cardenas said.
A GoFundMe has also been organized on behalf of Cardenas.
