Chicago Neighborhood Raises Over $150K for 90-Year-Old Popsicle Man

Fidencio Sanchez has been a fixture of Chicago's Near West side for years, selling paletas – a kind of Mexican popsicle – back and forth, to the tune of $50-$60 dollars per day.

But he's about to be the recipient of considerably more than that, thanks to Joel Cervantes Macias, who launched a GoFundMe page to help the 90-year-old Sanchez in his retirement that has tallied up $154,000 and is still growing.

Sanchez retired only two months ago, but returned during the last few weeks of summer after his daughter – he and his wife's only child and their primary support system – died a month ago.

"He's a really hardworking gentleman," Gustavo Gutierrez, who provides Sanchez with his cart, told DNAInfo. "He's always giving. He already got the advice from everybody to take it easy and stop doing it. He just doesn't want to. He's like a little kid. He wants to get going."



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"The entire community [of] Little Village knows about Mr. Fidencio because for decades he's always been selling," Gutierrez said. "He wants to continue. Which is great in terms of spirit, but we're concerned, of course, that something could happen to him."

So was Joel Cervantes Macias, a Wisconsin man who grew up in Chicago. Earlier this week, he bought 20 popsicles for $50 from Sanchez, but wanted to do more to help. So he set up the GoFundMe to help fund Sanchez's retirement with the initial goal of $3,000, which has been handily surpassed.

Sanchez learned of the fundraiser this weekend. "He knows, and he's taking it with a lot of love," Gutierrez said. "We're really for this [support] from the entire community because he deserved it."