by Helena Mitchell & Erika Murillo on 2014-02-05
Jessica Gonzales, a life-long resident of Colton, was elated and surprised as Abe Sanchez, her boyfriend of 3 and a half years, told her she was the winner of the most recent Shop N’ Win monthly coupon book sweepstakes and would take home the $1,000 grand prize.
Gonzales, who celebrated her 27th birthday on Friday, Jan. 30, had no idea her boyfriend knew the news beforehand. Sanchez was the first to know about his girlfriend being named the winner, after receiving a voicemail from Margie Miller of City News Group, but wanted the moment to be special and surprise her so he called her and told her he wanted to tell her something, but not over the phone, in person. “I have something to tell you, but I want to tell you in person,” is what Sanchez said according to Gonzales. “I didn’t know if it was good or bad,” recalls Gonzales, "It was good."
As is one of 10 siblings in her family, and the aunt to 20 nieces and nephews, it's no surprise that the one of the first things that Gonzales did after finding out she had won the sweepstakes was contact her family.
Her mother has survived two types of cancer, colon and ovarian; all within the past two years. Last year she was part of her family's Team Acosta at the Walk for Cancer event at Eisenhower High School for her cancer surviving mother and her grandmother, Mary Acosta who succumbed to cancer in 2000.
When Gonzales is not with her family you can find her hiking Mt. Rubidoux or The Loop in Claremont.
Gonzales who works as a professional eyebrow artist at Zia Threading in Colton said the money was truly a surprise and knows exactly what she is going to use her winnings on. Although she aspires to one day open her own salon in the Inland Empire, Gonzales is going to use her winnings towards something else that is close to her heart: her church. A life-long member of Redeemer’s House Praise Chapel, now located in Moreno Valley, formerly in Fontana, Gonzales looks forward to contributing to the church's current expansion efforts.
“I was excited,” recalled Gonzales thinking of the moments after she found out she had won the sweepstakes, “I never win anything. My boyfriend is the one who gets the coupons and tells me to fill them out. He says 'you never know if we are going to win'”, and that they did.
For your chance to win $1,000, be sure to snag a copy of the Shop N' Win coupon sweepstakes book, and use the coupons for your chance to win! To obtain a copy of the Shop N' Win, call (909) 825-1115.