One act of kindness can change someone’s life. For Kylie Fronius and Daniel Rivas, their stories start with a simple effort to connect in 2016.
At the time, the two Shadow Ridge High School students, like other teenagers, were eagerly preparing for the upcoming prom. Daniel, who has Down Syndrome, had asked several girls to the dance, all of which had turned him down.
Feeling rejected and heartbroken, Daniel had accepted that his dream of going to prom was slowly coming to an end. That is, until, when word got back to his classmate, Kylie, about his dilemma and she decided to ask Daniel to the dance herself.
When the video got around of Kylie asking Daniel to prom, it instantly went viral. Touched by her kindness, one of Kylie’s teachers nominated her to be a recipient of FOX5’s Surprise Squad.
The Surprise Squad, which originated in 2013, has surprised people with random acts of kindness for over 500 episodes. With the help of sponsors like United Nissan, America First Credit Union, Albertsons, and Vons, they’ve been able to change people’s lives from renovating houses and paying rent for a year to donating scholarships and vehicles to families in need.
When news of Kylie and Daniel got to Don Forman, owner of United Nissan, he felt inspired to surprise the two in his own way.
“When we saw the video, it was a no-brainer,” said Forman. “Regardless of the peer pressure in school, she put it all aside and asked Daniel to the dance. And he was elated! It was amazing.”
From there, Forman and the Surprise Squad decided to plan out an extra special prom night, which started with being chauffeured in a Rolls Royce Phantom. Little did they know that this was just the beginning of an unforgettable night.
In the Phantom, the two were brought in style to a complimentary dinner at Bistro 57, where they got to meet Chef Franco De Furia. After a delicious meal, they then pulled up to the dance, with a red carpet waiting for their arrival.
Though the Surprise Squad helps with some planning, not even they could anticipate what was coming next. “A lot of the things we do, Surprise Squad doesn’t even know,” said Forman.
At the dance, Forman surprised the two on stage with plans to send both families to Disneyland. Forman also called Tonya Rivas, Daniel’s mom to the stage, where he then gifted a $10,000 donation to help with Daniel’s schooling for his dream of becoming a chef. After that, Kylie was brought outside to see her brand new Nissan Sentra from United Nissan.
“Such amazing young kids who really had no real idea what to expect. [Kylie] was blown away from the car,” said Forman. “When she got her driver’s license, she gave me a ride. She didn’t have her driver’s license when she got the car.”
The Surprise Squad episode, which aired in late 2016, touched the hearts of millions reaching over 6.7 million views on its original YouTube video. The comment section is flooded with support for the two, with some writing comments like, “I haven’t cried this hard from watching a video EVER! My heart is so extremely touched!”
Another commenter wrote, “Seeing him happy makes my entire day. God bless people with truly good hearts.”
Forman says that being a part of the Surprise Squad has been “truly fulfilling.”
“Surprise Squad for us has been an amazing way to connect with the community,” he said. Forman, who has been a sponsor since its inception, says it started off with simple gestures, such as paying for someone’s gas or groceries, but it quickly grew to what it is today.
“We used to go into Nevada Energy and pay people’s power bills that were about to be turned off.”
Today, the episodes reach millions from countries around the world, inspiring many to follow in their footsteps. “It’s nice to get someone periodically saying, ‘great job’ and that we’ve inspired them,” said Forman. “I had a woman in Canada who reached out, and she actually started doing the same thing.”
United Nissan is proud to be a sponsor of the FOX5 Surprise Squad. To see a full playlist of past episodes, visit our YouTube channel here.