As I was driving down 26th st in the Little Village area in Chicago where I was born and raised. I saw this elderly man struggling to push is paleta cart (Popsicle cart). It broke my heart seeing this man that should be enjoying retirement still working at this age. I had to pull over and took this picture. I then bought 20 paletas and gave him a $50 and said may God bless him and drove away. I posted this picture on Fb and since then, I've gotten a huge response. That's when Joe Loera came up with a great idea to start this campaign. Mr. Fedencio Sanchez and his wife recently lost their only daughter and are still heartbroken about the situation. His elderly wife was selling paletas also to help pay bills, but she fell ill and can't work anymore. We're trying to raise money to help him with whatever we can. Anything helps. Let's all pitch in and help make life a little easier and brighten both of their day. 
 
 Help spread the word! Share Tweet 121k shares on Facebook shares on Facebook ||||| LITTLE VILLAGE — In just two days, a spontaneous online campaign brought in more than $150,000 for an 89-year-old man who's spent decades selling ice cream in Little Village, with nearly 7,000 people donating money toward his retirement. 
 
 On Monday, he showed up to work anyway. 
 
 Like almost every day since 1993, Fidencio Sanchez arrived at Paletas Poncho, 2513 S. Pulaski Rd., around 11 a.m. He donned a lime-green cap to shield from the midday sun, grabbed his cart stocked with about 300 frozen treats and went out on the road. 
 
 Sanchez typically pushes a cart for a few hours each day, usually taking in about $60, according to Gustavo Gutierrez, co-owner of Paletas Poncho. 
 
 "I've been doing it all this time, number one, because I like it," Sanchez said Monday. "Number two, because I've been trying to keep supporting myself." 
 
 Sanchez retired two months ago, intending to "take it easy" and relax with his wife, Gutierrez said. But he returned to work in July, after the death of his only daughter left him with no other way to pay the bills for himself and his ailing wife. 
 
 "My daughter was like a mother to us," Sanchez said. "She worked every day, she cooked for us every evening and night. We still don't know what to do without her." 
 
 Joel Cervantes Macias, one of two people behind the fundraising campaign, had never seen Sanchez before last week, when he drove past the small man doubled over his cart on a hot day, he said. 
 
 "The dude just looked like he was suffering," Cervantes said. "I thought, 'This is a guy who aught to be enjoying retirement.'" 
 
 Cervantes bought 20 popsicles for $50, but he wanted to do more, he said. He snapped a picture of Sanchez behind his cart and posted it to Facebook, and a flood of comments and messages came back. 
 
 "That one picture had so much to say, and people really responded to it," Cervantes said of the photo, which showed Sanchez stooping over his cart as he pushed it past a dirty alley in Little Village. "It communicated so many things — poverty, struggle, pride — it's like it spoke more words than any amount of writing could." 
 
 After seeing the post, Joe Loera, a distant acquaintance of Cervantes, reached out and offered to set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Sanchez's retirement. 
 
 "I thought maybe we could raise $200 for him, just to help him out," Loera said. 
 
 By Monday 10 a.m. Monday morning, the page registered more than $138,000 in donations from more than 6,400 people. 
 
 An hour later, Cervantes checked his phone again. 
 
 "We're up to $150,000!" he shouted to Loera, who stared back in disbelief. 
 
 "It's really just an example of how the global community really does have a lot of love to give," Loera said. "They just need a way to show it." 
 
 Some of those who gave pointed to the campaign as proof of the underlying care and compassion Chicagoans feel for one another. 
 
 "What a fantabulous way to prove that Chicago is not just about crime and craziness," one donor wrote. "It's about our roots and helping those in need when they need it most!" 
 
 RELATED: 90-Year-Old 'Paleta Man' Who Refuses To Stop Working 
 
 After seeing the total raised on Monday, Sanchez said he was "very happy and grateful" to see "such a great surprise." 
 
 But, he added, he's not ready to hang up his operation quite yet. 
 
 "Maybe just one more week," he said. 
 
 Even after taking in so many donations, Guterriez wondered wondered whether the man knew how to stop working. 
 
 "He's a really hardworking gentleman," Gutierrez said. "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." 
 
 "The man just doesn't get tired," added Blanca Gutierrez, Gustavo Gutierrez's wife and co-owner of Paletas Poncho, on Monday. "I think he wants to be like a tree, and die standing up." 
 
 Sanchez, who attends the same church every Saturday, learned of the fundraiser at services this weekend, Gustavo Gutierrez said. 
 
 "... 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." 
 
 In a video interview posted on Facebook Saturday, Macias explains that he has opened an account for Sanchez and his wife so they don't have to set it up themselves at the bank, but said they'll have direct access to the money donated from around the globe. 
 
 Sanchez and his wife Eladia both said in the Facebook video that they value hard work, and don't believe anyone should rely on charity or handouts when they are able to provide for themselves. 
 
 "We used to be poor farmers," Eladia said in the video. "We came up here to try to make money for our family, to try to send our daughter to high school and give her a future." 
 
 You can donate to the campaign online. 
 
 For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: ||||| Fidencio Sanchez, 89, was presented with a check from GoFundMe Wednesday after more than 17,000 people donated to help raise more than $380,000 for the man and his family. Christian Farr reports. (Published Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016) 
 
 After decades of tireless work, a Chicago street vendor received some much-needed financial help all because of a picture posted by a driver passing by. 
 
 Fidencio Sanchez, 89, was presented with a check from GoFundMe Wednesday after more than 17,000 people donated to help raise more than $380,000 for the man and his family. 
 
 Speaking in Spanish, Sanchez expressed profound gratitude for the support of not only his community, but people across the world. 
 
 "He said he’s ecstatic and he wants to give thanks to the community and the whole world everyone who has contributed to this fund," said Joel Cervantes, who started the GoFundMe campaign. "He’s very grateful, him and his wife are overwhelmed with all the outpouring of support everyone has given. He said he’ll never forget this and he thanks everyone, but most of all he thanks God." 
 
 More Than $150K Raised for 89-Year-Old Chicago Street Vendor 
 
 After decades of tireless work, an elderly Chicago street vendor will be getting some much-needed financial help all because of a picture posted by a driver passing by. Regina Waldroup reports. (Published Monday, Sept. 12, 2016) 
 
 Sanchez's story garnered national attention when Cervantes spotted the elderly man hunched over and struggling to push his cart selling paletas, or popsicles, down the side of the road in the city's Little Village neighborhood. 
 
 “It broke my heart seeing this man that should be enjoying retirement still working at this age,” Cervantes wrote on GoFundMe. 
 
 Cervantes pulled over to snap a photo before stopping to buy 20 paletas, giving Sanchez $50, and continuing on his way. 
 
 The street vendor typically only makes about $50 during an average day selling his paletas. 
 
 Outpouring of Support for Elderly Popsicle Cart Vendor in Little Village 
 
 When an 89-year-old man was seen barely being able to push his street cart in Chicago's Little Village, one good Samaritan wanted to do whatever it took to help. NBC 5's Regina Waldroup reports. (Published Monday, Sept. 12, 2016) 
 
 When Cervantes got home, the image of the hardworking man couldn’t seem to leave his mind. He posted the photo on his Facebook page, with the caption, “I respect this man to the fullest, but had no idea the image would get such an overwhelming response. It was quickly shared more than 400 times. 
 
 That was when his friend Jose Loera came up with the idea to start a GoFundMe campaign in hopes those inspired by Sanchez’s story could band together to make even the smallest of a difference in his family’s life. 
 
 The originally fundraising goal was set for $3,000. 
 
 It turned out, Sanchez and his wife are still grieving the recent loss of their only daughter. 
 
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 “His elderly wife was selling paletas also to help pay bills, but she fell ill and can't work anymore,” Cervantes wrote on GoFundMe. “We're trying to raise money to help him with whatever we can. Anything helps. Let's all pitch in and help make life a little easier and brighten both of their day.” 
 
 In less than a day, the page received more than $100,000 in donations. 
 
 A week later more than 17,000 people had donated funds to his family, gathering a total of more than $380,000. 
 
 "It’s gonna help him security-wise, financial security," said Cervantes. "We’re pretty sure he’s not going to rent anymore." 
 
 "He loves working 'cause it keeps him young, so I keep telling him just get a treadmill," he joked. "I think he’s going to get a hearing aid first." 
 
 GoFundMe said the campaign was the largest ever created in Illinois, and had received donations from people in more than 52 countries across the world. ||||| There’s no way of knowing how long it would’ve taken Fidencio Sanchez to sell 90,000 paletas, or Mexican ice pops, for $1.50 each from the paleteria he pushes around Little Village. 
 
 But online donors saved the 89-year-old man the trouble of finding out. Through $5 to $2,000 donations, 6,300-plus people collectively raised more than $135,000 - the equivalent of 90,000 paleta sales - for Sanchez in a GoFundMe campaign started by a stranger wanting to offer the older man a little relief from pushing his cart. 
 
 Crediting friend Joe Loera with coming up with the idea to start an online fundraiser, Joel Cervantes said in this case it took a village – Little Village – to make all the difference to Sanchez and his wife, Eladia. 
 
 Eladia Sanchez also used to sell paletas but now sells Mexican candies because pushing the heavy cart became too physically demanding and hurt her arm, according to the Sanchez' granddaughter, Dulce Perez. Fidencio Sanchez has been pushing his cart in the area about 23 years, Perez said. 
 
 “A lot of people knew him,” Cervantes said of Sanchez. “After I put it on Facebook, people started inboxing me and they were like, ‘I know that gentleman, he’s always around town.’ I should’ve expected it because he sells all across the 26th Street area. If it touches me, I should’ve known it touches everybody else who sees him.” 
 
 Online donors have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to assist 89-year-old Fidencio Sanchez, who for more than two decades has pushed his cart through Little Village selling paletas and Mexican candies. 
 
 Cervantes first met Sanchez Thursday, while the older man was pushing his cart and appeared to be struggling a bit. According to his post on GoFundMe, Cervantes bought 20 paletas and intentionally overpaid, giving Sanchez a $50. He also snapped a photo of the man, and said he thinks those 6,000 people were moved to donate because their imaginations were stirred by the photo. 
 
 “They seen how he’s struggling to pull the cart. He looks like he’s suffering, like he’ll never give up … they put two and two together, like they need to do this to survive,” Cervantes said. 
 
 The next time the pair met, Cervantes caught up with Sanchez at his church, and delivered the six-figure news. 
 
 “I set (the fundraiser goal) for a modest $3,000 and in 54 minutes, to be exact, we already reached that,” Cervantes said Sunday afternoon. “Like my brother told me, ‘That picture speaks 1,000 words.’ I think if I wasn’t lucky enough to take that picture, I don’t think it would’ve had the response that it did,” Cervantes said. 
 
 Cervantes also wrote in the fundraiser description that the Sanchez’s daughter, who may have helped the couple financially, passed away this year. 
 
 “It broke my heart seeing this man who should be enjoying retirement still working at this age,” Cervantes wrote. “Mr. Fidencio Sanchez and his wife recently lost their only daughter and are still heartbroken about the situation. His elderly wife was selling paletas also to help pay bills, but she fell ill and can't work anymore. We're trying to raise money to help him with whatever we can. Anything helps. Let's all pitch in and help make life a little easier and brighten both of their day.” 
 
 Dulce Perez, who spoke on behalf of her grandfather Monday, said that goal was achieved and then some. 
 
 "I was very surprised," Fidencio Sanchez said through Perez. "I am very thankful for the men that thought of doing this. ... I am very thankful for the favor." 
 
 Bart Jackson, a San Francisco-based communications manager for GoFundMe said he did a double-take when on Saturday afternoon he saw the fundraiser had been shared 24,000 times on social media. To put that in perspective, he said a fundraiser set up for victims of the tragedy at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando was shared 240,000 times. Monday morning, the post on the paletero had been shared 59,000 times and was still trending. 
 
 “It's heartwarming to see so many folks rally around Fidencio and donate to the campaign,” Jackson said. 
 
 Although he worked Sunday, Fidencio Sanchez said Monday it might be time to park his cart for good. 
 
 "Well, seems to me like it won't be necessary anymore and I will be able to rest more at home," Perez said for Sanchez. "It means a lot, and the changes will be that there will be no need for me to work, and we will have help in all aspects; Like getting better clothes and things that will improve our life at home." 
 
 To donate to the campaign go to: www.gofundme.com.
– A week ago, 89-year-old Fidencio Sanchez was selling Mexican popsicles in Chicago. Now he'll never have to push his paleta cart again, thanks to a kind stranger. Joel Cervantes Macias says he spotted Sanchez struggling to push his cart in the Little Village neighborhood on Thursday. It turns out Sanchez and his wife retired two months ago, but Sanchez was forced back to work when their daughter died last month. She was "like a mother to us," he tells DNAinfo. Cervantes snapped a photo of the man and gave him a $20 tip on his purchase, reports the Chicago Tribune. But back at home, he couldn't forget him. Instead, he created a GoFundMe page to raise $3,000 for Sanchez. He reached that goal in an hour. The tally sits at more than $250,000 as of Tuesday. "It broke my heart seeing this man who should be enjoying retirement still working at this age," Cervantes wrote. He adds: "If it touches me, I should've known it touches everybody else who sees him." He credits the photo he took of Sanchez—who makes about $50 a day selling ice pops, per NBC Chicago—for inspiring some 11,000 people to donate. "He looks like he's suffering, like he'll never give up," Cervantes says. Now, "there will be no need for me to work," Sanchez says through his granddaughter. "I will be able to rest more at home." Sanchez will be presented with the donated funds this week. (Strangers also donated to a man who walks 21 miles to work.)