GoFundMe Campaign Set Up To Help 'The Flower Guy'

CHICAGO, IL — When news broke Wednesday night of last weekend's arrest of Jim Robb, the 70-year-old man who has sold flowers at the corner of 111th and Pulaski for at least two decades, an outpouring of support for the South Side fixture heavily outweighed those who supported the "flower peddling/peddler prohibited" citation he received from Chicago police.

But while talk of the arrest took three days to hit social media, it took less than an hour after that for one GoFundMe page to be set up in support of Robb.

Vanessa Gomez lived in Evergreen Park for more than a decade before her family moved out to Dyer, Indiana within the last year and remembers seeing Robb on the corner at the border of Mount Greenwood and Oak Lawn hundreds of times over the years.

"He is a really kind man," Gomez said. "We've bought flowers from him many times and he's even given us flowers for free a few times."

RELATED: 'The Flower Guy' Cited For Selling Flowers At 111th And Pulaski

Gomez set up the GoFundMe because she felt "compelled" to help Robb, who has supported himself as the unofficial "Flower Guy" on 111th for many years. She was inspired by a story two years ago of an elderly street vendor in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood who was given $380,000 in donations as a thank you for his years of selling popsicles on the street.

Similarly, the Flower Guy "has been doing this forever."

"I feel like he should be at home," Gomez said. "I remember seeing him at that corner since I was a child. He's always nice and remembers us."

That's why Gomez' GoFundMe has a lofty $10,000 goal. Raising that amount would likely mean the Flower Guy could take the rest of the year off. That is if he wants too, of course.

"At 70 years old, he should be at home not on a corner selling flowers," Gomez wrote in the campaign's description. "Let’s help Jim out by donating so he can at least take the rest of 2018 off."

If that's not possible, Gomez said she'd at least like to see enough raised "to treat him to a nice vacation."

As of Thursday night at 8 p.m., $25 had been raised in Gomez' campaign. A similar GoFundMe effort titled "Grateful for the Flower Guy" has raised $50 of a $1,000 goal.

Gomez said she would like to turn her effort over to a current resident of the South Side since it would likely be easier to get the money to Robb that way.

"I've donated before, but this is the first time I've set up a GoFundMe," she said. "I'm not sure exactly how we will get the money to him but I do think it would be better for me to pass it on to someone still living in the neighborhood."

Anyone interested in continue what Gomez started can email her at vanessagomez71815@gmail.com.

"We set the goal high at $10,000, but I'm sure that even if we were able to give him $500 he would be appreciative," she said.

Patch file photo / Tim Moran