The ugly truth behind the palatero GoFundMe campaign

*The ugly truth is that Latino elderly are not prepared or retirement. VL

By Jorge Rivas, Fusion (4 minute read) 

Joel Cervantes Macias says he took this now-famous picture of the 89-year-old popsicle vendor because he saw an “elderly man struggling to push his paleta cart.”

“I respect this man to the fullest,” Cervantes wrote when he posted the picture on Facebook.

Response to the photo led to a GoFundMe crowdfund campaign, which has already raised more than $320,000 in retirement funds and made don Fidencio Sánchez the darling of the internet.

At a time when Donald Trump is calling Mexican immigrants drug dealers and rapists, the image of this hard-working Mexican immigrant has become a defiant symbol that challenges hateful stereotypes. The photo also seems to remind people of someone they know, creating an emotional bond that has inspired 15,000 people to donate money to the cause.

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But the feel-good story of the month actually speaks to an unpleasant reality: Many aging Latinos don’t have enough money saved for retirement. READ MORE