Eagle Scout hopeful supports pet center

Last Hope Animal Rescue, in its 33 years of existence, has been the beneficiary of numerous Eagle Scout projects. On Sunday, one more was added to the tally, as Boy Scout Joseph Vitucci delivered five freshly made benches to the Wantagh pet adoption center.

Vitucci, a member of Wantagh Boy Scout Troop 189, supervised the construction of the benches, which will be placed at various locations at Last Hope, including on an outdoor patio and in the cat meet-and-greet room.

“They’re very nice,” Joann Anderson, Last Hope’s outreach coordinator, said of the benches. “They’re definitely going to come in handy and they’re very durable.”

Vitucci, a 2014 graduate of Massapequa High School, got his start in the Cub Scouts when he was in third grade with Pack 590. Seeing older Boy Scouts earn their Eagle rank, the highest honor in Scouting, inspired him to do the same. Candidates must complete a community service project and Vitucci wanted to do something with animals. A self-described cat person, he has a black cat named Luna at home.

Last Hope’s facility on Beltagh Avenue, which opened in April 2011, has room for up to 20 dogs and 80 cats. It also has pets placed in foster homes and at up for adoption at local pet stores. Anderson said that in a typical year, Last Hope finds homes for 600 to 700 cats, and 250 to 300 dogs.

Anderson said there is a long list of projects that could be done by aspiring Eagle Scouts, and a few more are already in the works. Scouts like Vitucci have been helping out the facility for years, she said, and the work that scouts put into the projects is greatly appreciated.

Vitucci said that building the benches was “quite a bit of work.” He and his father, Michael, an assistant scoutmaster with Troop 189, went online to find plans. “It’s amazing what you can find on the Internet,” Michael Vitucci said.

The benches were delivered to Last Hope on Oct. 5. A week earlier, scouts gathered at Vitucci’s house to assemble the benches. Vitucci, who has helped out other scouts with their Eagle projects over the years, was overseeing it all this time and was grateful for the help from his volunteers.

“There was no possible way I could have done this by myself,” he said. “That was really crucial.”

Vitucci said he and his volunteers spent 12 hours completing the benches. They used lumber that was donated by Burt Building Materials Corp. of Huntington. Weather proofing was added so the benches could be placed indoors or outdoors.

Before he can become and Eagle Scout, Vitucci must earn a few more merit badges. He will then have to appear before an Eagle Board of Review, and hopes to have an Court of Honor ceremony in the spring,

Vitucci would be the first person in his family to become an Eagle Scout but likely not the last as his younger brother, Mark, also has his sights sent on the prestigious rank.