GoFundMe For Popsicle Cart Pusher
Watch the 89-Year-Old Viral Popsicle Man Humbly Accept His $380,000 Donation
The comedian George Lopez recently shared a photo of Fidencio Sánchez receiving his check.
Update: On Sept. 21, the 89-year-old ice cream seller whose photo went viral received his check for $384,290, according to The Chicago Tribune. At a press conference for the donation, Fidencio Sánchez said he did not have immediate plans for how he would spend the money.
"I've had to work so hard, so I'm so thankful to everyone for this," he said. "Honestly, I haven't thought about how I'm going to spend the money. There's a lot to consider." The Tribune also reports that more than 17,500 people from 60 countries contributed to the viral campaign.
Original story: After Joel Cervantes Macias spotted an elderly man hunched over his paletas, he snapped a photo and shared it on Facebook. The man in the photo is Fidencio Sánchez, an 89-year-old, who sells popsicles in his Chicago neighborhood.
When Macias shared the moving image, it garnered such a positive response that he decided to launch a GoFundMe campaign so that the elderly man no longer needed to work. "It broke my heart seeing this man that should be enjoying retirement still working at this age," Macias wrote on the GoFundMe page. Macias also wrote on the page's description that Sánchez had recently lost his daughter so he was selling paletas to pay the bills.
Macias set the goal at $3,000, but since the crowdfunding campaign has gone viral, it's raised more than $384,000. Speaking to Univision, Sánchez expressed his gratitude and he also said he would donate some of the money to the church, to his grandchildren, and to people who he sees are in need.
Sánchez won't stop pushing his cart anytime soon, either. "I have the motivation. I have the strength," he told Univision. He might find himself with a few more customers than usual, however.
