Fidencio Sanchez is Popsicle salesman at 89 years-old, or Paletero, who has sold for 23 years in the streets of Little Village in Chicago, Illinois. He pushes the cart filled with popsicles and ice cream for most of the day, every single day. He lives with his wife, and they have survived their daughter who used to care for them. ^[1]

Background

Sanchez was born and raised in Morelos, Mexico, and was orphaned when he was only 6 months alive. Since the age of 13, he has been working to support himself. He started working in the fields of the place he grew up until 1990, when he he move to the city of Chicago. ^[1]

He attends the local church, and gets along with most of the members of his community.

^[1]

Popsicle Man

Every morning, Sanchez wakes up and gets ready for work.

He pushes his cart around the city selling as much ice cream as anyone can buy.

His wife was also involved in pushing the cart and selling the popsicles, but had to stop during the summer of 2016 due to her health.

He has been described as a humble and hardworking man in the community.

People in the community have grown up watching Sanchez and seeing how committed he is to his job each day.

Go Fund Me

Joel Cervantes, a costumer who was moved by the hardworking Sanchez, bought $50 worth of Paletas. He snapped a photo of Sanchez and shared it on his Facebook where people became curious about the man and inquired about him. Cervantes and his friend, Joel Loera, decided to create a Go Fund Me page to raise $3,000 to help Sanchez take care of his wife, especially since his daughter is no longer with them. ^[1]

In just three days, as of September 12th, 2016, the Go Fund Me page has raised more than $304,000.

People have also been supportive and kind in the efforts to help the elderly man.

One donor wrote:

There have been almost 12,000 donors thus far.