Visually impaired youngsters go shopping in Cherry Hill with help

Red bows hung on evergreen boughs, white lights twinkled on candy canes, and even Santa and Mrs. Claus strolled by.

But for Isaac Gonzalez, 13, it was all a bright blur Sunday morning as he made his way, with help, through the Cherry Hill Target store.

"Which one do you like better?" 14-year-old Daniel Nguyen asked, holding up a purple and a pink Minnie Mouse doll as three other teens watched.

Isaac, who is nearly blind and ordinarily guides himself with a cane, gazed in Daniel's direction but said nothing.

"Purple?" Daniel said, shaking one Minnie. "Or pink?"

"Purple," Isaac decreed, thus settling his baby cousin's Christmas present. Purple Minnie landed face-up in his cart, which the children then wheeled toward the mitten-and-scarf aisle.

It was a scene repeated throughout the morning as 60 youngsters from Burlington and Camden Counties helped 22 visually impaired children navigate the busy store.

Launched about 30 years ago by the Cherry Hill Lions Club, the event has become a holiday tradition for some of the "shoppers," ages 6 through 14, mostly from Camden, and their guides, ages 8 to 18, mostly from suburban towns.

"Who hasn't done this before?" Ellen Ragone, the Lions Club's coordinator, asked the mob of youths crowded into the employee lunchroom shortly after 9 a.m. About 50 hands shot up.

Each shopper would receive a gift card worth $50, Ragone explained, and the volunteers would help pick out presents.

"Your job," she said, "is also to keep track of how much you're spending."

It was the "third or fourth time" for Isaac, said his mother, Marysol, of Camden. "He likes the shopping experience. And especially he likes to do something without me."

The young shoppers receive services from the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. It coordinates them with the Lions Clubs of Cherry Hill and Pennsauken.

Many are also developmentally delayed or have other conditions, said a woman who works for the commission.

Jacob Sword, 11, of Camden, shopped for five family members accompanied by three boys from St. Rose of Lima parish in Haddon Heights. "We need service hours for confirmation," explained Mike Sullivan, 13.

Also joining Jacob, who has retinitis pigmentosa, were Tom McCahill, 12, and Sam Giumarello, 13.

His grandmother Diane Rodriguez said she was thrilled to see him in caring company because Jacob, who is cognitively equivalent to a 5-year-old, "gets punched and choked" at public school, she said.

The boys came back an hour later with a hat and gloves, a toy football, slipper socks, two Nerf guns, and a toy truck. "It was fun," Sam said. "And we came in $1.51 under."

It was a challenge for Isaac and his companions to stay within budget, however. He needed seven gifts.

"This is not looking good," Time Nguyen, 17, said after about 30 minutes. Like Daniel, she is from Pennsauken but no relation. Joining them were Reinaldo Lopez, 18, and Min Lin, 15.

Nguyen rummaged through the cart, tallying the price tags, and discovered they were at $52 with three gifts yet to go.

They swapped two $15 scarves for plainer, $10 versions, and, after returning the $14.99 sunglasses, explored a display of $4.99 vinyl wallets. This time, Isaac chose pink.

Flipping through the Hello Kitty and Angry Birds T-shirt racks, they debated whether a 5-year-old girl would wear a size 5.

"Hey, sweetheart," Nguyen said to Isaac, holding up a $4.99 shirt emblazoned with black and pink geometric patterns. "Do you think this will fit?"

He nodded uncertainly. "Yes!" she exclaimed, and they tallied the cart once more. To their dismay, they were over $60.

"I have $10," Daniel said, pulling a folded bill from his pants pocket. "Do you think they'll let us make up the difference?"

At the checkout counter, a man in a Lions Club shirt feigned dismay when he saw the total: $65.19. "Good job," he said, "but you're way over."

Daniel proffered the $10, but the Lion, who gave his name only as Steve, shook his head.

"Are you happy?" he asked Isaac, who nodded, and Steve waved a credit card under the scanner to make up the difference.

After Isaac and his companions headed to gift wrapping, Steve said the Lions set a $50 limit to keep costs contained but covered modest overages.

The Lions Club International has long been active in serving the blind, he said, and members of the two local chapters cover all the purchases. Or that was the plan.

"But a guy, a shopper, saw what we were doing," he said, "and he came up to me and handed me $40."