Voorhees Teenager Advocates For The Blind During Blindness Awareness Month

VOORHEES, NJ (CBS) - October is Blindness Awareness Month, and no one knows that better than the 14-year-old Voorhees boy that created the day and spread the word.

Rocco Fiorentino launched Blindness Awareness Month in 2009. He says it was a modest start.

"In 2009, we started with three states and that was New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. We're now up to 40. How? I don't know. I don't know how it's grown to that number, but I've just been calling and writing letters."

Fiorentino was born premature and blind, with a five-percent chance of living. But that didn't stop him.

Today, he is an accomplished pianist, drummer, and singer -- and in his spare time visits Trenton to advocate for the blind and visually impaired at the state capitol.

"It's more of education. It costs $30,000 to train a guide dog for someone who is blind. Or it costs $3,000 to produce a book into Braille."

To date, he has raised $1.2 million for Braille education and services in New Jersey.

Reported by Kim Glovas, KYW Newsradio 1060