Like any teenager entering young adulthood, Cooper Waisberg was planning to make his 18th birthday “memorable.”

He had hung out with a bunch of friends last year when he turned 17. They golfed and went to an escape room. This time around, he wanted to do something special for the milestone — he loves cars, and was going to take his boys karting.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and all the plans went out of the window.

“I didn’t really know what to do anymore,” said Waisberg, who reached legal adulthood on April 6.

But a novel idea came to him. He had done some volunteer work as a guided support person at the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians, and knew many of their members would face many challenges during the time of social isolation and physical distancing.

Teaming up with older brother Ethan, the youngster set out to spread some kindness to some visually impaired people. Using Waisberg’s birthday money, the brothers went out and bought essentials such as toilet paper, napkins and canned food to give to a handful of people who needed it. In a couple of cases, they spent a few hours of the big day running errands for those who needed help.

“Those who are blind, it’s already challenging for them to go out and about, (and) they can’t even meet virtually like the rest of us are doing,” said Waisberg.

“I just wanted to make them feel comfortable, brighten their day a little bit. A small action can go a long way in difficult times.”

Waisberg’s brother Ethan said no one in the family was surprised when his younger brother chose to forego his birthday celebrations for the benefit of others. He likes extracurricular activities at school and is involved in various projects in the community.

“All his friends were very inspired by his idea too, and they were supportive,” said Ethan, who is enrolled in the medical school at the University College Dublin in Ireland.

Josie Mullins, 73, got Waisberg’s help on his birthday, and said she “very much” appreciated it. She knew him from his previous volunteer work within the blind, but had never expected to hear from him during the pandemic, let alone get his help on his birthday.

“Let’s say I was pleasantly shocked. I wanted to give them some money back but they wouldn’t accept it,” she said, adding the brothers got her toilet paper, napkins and a box of water bottles among other things. “Very nice kids, God bless them.”

Mullins said one of her eyes went completely blind four years ago, and her partial sight in the other one requires her to go out frequently to get eyedrops. She uses a cane to navigate through the city, and relies heavily on kind people directing her to items in the store.

“Sometimes people are really mean,” she said, adding it’s not uncommon for strangers to laugh at her or tell her she’s a phoney and not really blind.

“It makes me mad, and I sometimes tell them I hope one day it happens to them,” she said. “People need to get educated about us. We are blind but we still have a life.”

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Waisberg said he hopes to continue volunteering once the pandemic is over and will try to assist the visually impaired during lockdown. The Grade 12 student sits on the student council at his Lawrence Park school, and wants to become an eye surgeon.

“I just want to be able to do something that has a lasting impact on someone’s life,” he said.