An 87-year-old ice pop vendor in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood has become the center of an unexpected online fundraising campaign after a video of him working went viral. The video has now turned into a fundraising effort aimed at helping him finally step away from the job. Per NativeVoice, the vendor, identified as Braulio, has spent decades selling ice pops from his cart around Pilsen. His age immediately caught the attention of Ventura Orozco, who recorded the encounter and later shared it online. Orozco shared the moment on his TikTok account @quesabirriatacoking, and the response quickly grew beyond a simple viral video. According to Orozco, thousands of people began asking how they could help Braulio, eventually leading to a GoFundMe campaign aimed at giving him enough financial support to retire. ## Strangers now want to give Braulio a way out of the daily grind The fundraising campaign is seeking $20,000 for Braulio. The stated purpose is to help him retire with greater financial security after spending so much of his life working as a street vendor. > @quesabirriatacoking > > gofund.me/18b5f7c19 One paleta cost me three dollars, but the smile on this hard-working man’s face was priceless. I gave him three hundred, then another hundred. Because kindness doesn’t have to be grand, just genuine. If you’re lucky enough to brighten someone’s day… do it. Pay it forward. #PayItForward , #KindnessMatters , #QuesabirriaTacoKing #PilsenChicago , #BlessOthers . > > ♬ Originalton – avioneta_divertida That struck a nerve with people who saw the viral video. Orozco said the response came from viewers who recognized something familiar in Braulio, with many seeing similarities to their own parents or grandparents. The campaign is also notable because Braulio was not apparently looking for internet fame. He was simply continuing the work he had done for years, pushing his cart through the neighborhood and selling ice pops to customers. Orozco’s video changed the situation almost overnight. Instead of the encounter ending with a sale, it gave thousands of people a chance to learn about Braulio and consider helping him reach a point where working was no longer necessary. For now, the viral video has given Braulio something he may not have expected: thousands of strangers learning his story and trying to help change what his later years could look like.

This makes me so, so heartsick and ill.  I can't muster t...