Fidencio Sanchez, 89, spends his days pushing a cart selling popsicles through the streets of his Chicago neighborhood, trying to earn enough money to pay his and his wife’s bills.

Now, Sanchez might be able to finally stop pushing his popsicle cart.

A passerby named Joel Cervantes Macias, who saw Sanchez pushing his card through Little Village in Chicago and pulled over to buy $50 worth of popsicles, has launched a GoFundMe campaign encouraging others to help Sanchez


Macias posted his story to GoFundMe:

“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,” Macias wrote, saying he pulled over and gave the man $50. “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.”

Macias and his friend Loera launched a GoFundMe page on Sept. 9 with the goal of raising $3,000 for Sanchez. He wrote a bit about Sanchez and his wife’s story on the page, explaining that the couple’s only daughter recently died, they were still heartbroken over her loss, and his wife had been selling popsicles before she became ill.

“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,” Macias wrote.

While Macias hoped for $3,000, as of Monday morning the page had received more than $140,000 in donations from more than 6,000 individuals.


Macias posted an update to the page saying that would disperse the funds to the Sanchezes later in the week because donations are still pouring in. For those who were asking for proof that the money was going to the Sanchezes, Macias posted his own work address as well as the church Sanchez attends so people could speak directly to each of them.

“The Sanchez family really appreciates all the love and support that they are receiving from people from all around the world,” he wrote. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Macias did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gustavo Gutiérrez, the owner of the popsicle cart Sanchez pushes, told DNAinfo in Chicago that Sanchez was a “hardworking gentleman” who is “always giving.”

Gutiérrez said Sanchez was taking the news of the donations with “a lot of love.”