Grandma peddles fruit to cover medical bills

Grandmother Sells Fruit to Cover Medical Costs New American Media

Impulso, Profile, Miriam Reyes, Posted: Dec 05, 2009 Review it on NewsTrust

A 76-year-old fruit peddler works the streets of South Los Angeles to meet medical expenses, maintain a sense of purpose, and help her family through tough times. She's made some friends along the way, too.

Doña Blanca Alvarez, a courageous woman working through hard times, sells fruits and vegetables on the streets of South Los Angeles.

Neither the cold nor the economic crisis discourage 76-year-old Blanca Alvarez from going out each day to push her cart over the streets of South Los Angeles, selling fruits and vegetables to customers who have been acquaintances and friends.

Alvarez pushes the cart to make enough money to pay for the medicines and vitamins she needs more and more as she ages. Anything extra goes to the expenses of the household she shares with some of her children and grandchildren. There's more, too, because this immigrant from Michoacan, Mexico, says that her little business makes her feel like a productive person even though she lives with her children.

"I go around selling tomatoes, cilantro, onions, strawberries, mangos, bananas, melons — anything I can find when I go to the [wholesale produce] market at Olympic at Central," she says with a smile. "I do it to help myself a little bit, because I get sick frequently and I need the money to buy my medicines, because they're very expensive now and I only have emergency care."

Alvarez says that three years ago she had a gastric ulcer that burst, and soon needed $600 worth of medicines. Then she found it would cost more to stay on the diet suggested by doctors who treated the condition.

"With the money I earn from these fruits and vegetables I can buy myself the medicines and vitamins I need to take care of all my ailments like the pains in my back and legs, among others," she says. "In addition, I'm left with a little extra money to buy other personal items I need, and even to help a little bit with the household food expenses."