At 89, a nest egg at last, via GoFundMe

CHICAGO - While some people fantasize about what they'd do if they ever won the lottery, Fidencio Sanchez hasn't given it much thought.

The 89-year-old paleta vendor from the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago accepted a check Sept. 21 for $384,290 as beneficiary of the largest GoFundMe campaign in Illinois. But he has no plans to buy expensive toys or invest in stock. He's not even sure he'll buy a house.

"I feel so happy and so lucky for all of this support. I've had to work so hard, so I'm so thankful to everyone for this," Sanchez said. "Honestly, I haven't thought about how I'm going to spend the money. There's a lot to consider."

About 17,500 people from more than 60 countries offered anywhere from $5 to $2,000 in donations to Sanchez in an online fund-raising campaign created by two strangers, Joel Cervantes and Jose Loera, to help Sanchez retire after more than 23 years selling paletas.

Cervantes said he bought the Mexican ice pops from Sanchez recently and photographed him apparently struggling to push a cart of the frozen treats around the neighborhood. He posted the image to Facebook and was soon contacted by Loera, who helped him start the GoFundMe campaign.

Sanchez "looked so tired," Loera said. "He reminded me of my abuelito [grandfather], and I was like, 'Wait a minute, what are you doing pushing that paleta cart?' Everybody was able to relate and say, 'Oh, no, we can't let this happen.' "

Sanchez said he will no longer work as a paleta vendor for Paleteria y Neveria Poncho, a company he's worked with for more than 10 years.

"My body won't let me anymore. I did it out of necessity, but now I don't have to struggle anymore," he said.

Gustavo Pedraza, until recently, Sanchez's boss - said his doors are always open to Sanchez.

"He's been with us since I was a little kid. He's very humble, innocent, but a very hard worker," Pedraza said. "It's just amazing what happened here in Little Village because it became a national and international thing. We're going to miss him, but we're always going to be in touch."

The initial goal of the campaign, which began Sept. 9, was to raise $3,000. Loera said donations surpassed that mark within the first few days. The 11-day campaign went on to become the largest GoFundMe campaign in Illinois and is also among the top 25 in the nation, Bobby Whithorne, a spokesman for GoFundMe, said.

"We've already seen a ripple effect of other people starting GoFundMe campaigns," he said. "It just shows that people are willing to support causes and help people. They just need an outlet. They need a platform. I love the fact that more people are starting to step up and do it."

GoFundMe disburses the entire sum minus processing and service fees, as the site automatically takes 5 percent from each donation as a service fee, and WePay, which processes the transactions, deducts 2.9 percent plus 30 cents from each donation as a processing fee for payments.

It's common to set up a trust when a large amount of money has been raised, though funds are often deposited directly into a bank account, Whithorne said. Donations won't get released until a bank account or trust is established.

Sanchez and his wife, Eladia Sanchez, have hired a lawyer to help them navigate the process of receiving the funds and are in the process of meeting with financial advisers and tax experts.

"I'm going to make sure they have all the information they need and meet with all the proper professionals and vet those professionals to make sure there isn't someone who slips through the cracks to take advantage of them or just make an easy commission," said Salvador J. Lopez, the couple's pro bono attorney.