Chicago men honored for fundraising for Little Village paleta vendor

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two Chicago men were honored Wednesday for a kind gesture that gained attention nationwide.

"We just need to do small gestures for each other, try to help each other out. One small thing may change somebody's life," said Jose Loera.

Loera was honored with the Humanitarian Award at Wednesday's Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at the Thompson Center.

He and Joel Cervantes started a GoFundMe page for Fidencio Sanchez after seeing the 89-year-old running a paleta cart in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood.

Their initial goal was $3,000 but the page raised more than $384,000 for Sanchez and his wife.