Helping out

The moment Michael Alburtus talked to the woman outside the supermarket, he knew she was having a hard time.
Alburtus was earning his Eagle Scout rank as member of the Our Lady of Assumption Boy Scouts Troop 27 by organizing a food drive that would feed the city’s hungry – something he had learned from the late Michael Macalush, a former chairman of the troop.
“He always told us we should help other people before we help ourselves,” Alburtus said during a recent interview.

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“I set a goal to collect 500 items. We received more than that during our first weekend.” — Michael Alburtus
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Seeing the woman when he was doing the food drive put a face on the community need. “When she approached,” he said, “I asked her to donate a can. But I could tell she was going through a rough time. She looked me right in the eye and she said, ‘There should be more people like you. God bless you.’ It is a moment I will always remember. It is very special to me.”
What also surprised Alburtus was the outpouring of generosity from the people in Bayonne, where he grew up.
“I set a goal to collect 500 items,” he said. “We received more than that during our first weekend.”
By the end of his team’s effort, Alburtus had collected 2,500 food items to donate to the local food pantry.
As part of his effort to achieve Eagle Scout, the highest rank a Boy Scout can achieve, Alburtus organized the community project during the summer of 2009. Through “Heaven’s Helping Hands,” he raised approximately 2,500 cans of food that he donated to Our Lady of Assumption Church.
In order to become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank a Boy Scout can achieve, Alburtus organized a community project during the summer of 2009, a food drive aimed to help the homeless in Bayonne. Through “Heaven’s Helping Hands” he raised approximately 2,500 cans of food that he donated to Our Lady of Assumption Church.
To earn the rank of Eagle, a scout must be active in the troop, demonstrate that he lives by the principles of the Scout Oath and Law in his daily life, each a total of more than 21 merit badges ion specific areas and to demonstrate leadership by organizing a community service project.
Inspired by his now-deceased Scout Master Macaluch (called Mr. Mac.), Alburtus decided to enlist about 11 fellow scouts in an effort to raise food – which meant he had to negotiate with management at A & P and Shop & Stop for permission to set up collection tables outside of each.
“ShopRite was closed at the time,” he said.
Following in the footsteps of his father and his uncle, both of whom earned the rank of Eagle Scout, Alburtus organized the collection, giving particular credit to two members of his team, Joe Kiniery and Rodney Pierce II, for the effort’s success.
Alburtus, a 2009 County Prep High School graduate, will be recognized for his achievement at a Court of Honor ceremony, March 20, will commemorate more than a decade of community service and volunteerism

History

He said he joined the scouts at 7 years old, just after he moved to Bayonne from Jersey City. After graduating John Bailey School, he attended County Prep in Jersey City, and currently attends Rowan University, pursuing a field of study in law and justice.
Although he may seek a career in law, he hopes to become a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
He called the community project “an awesome experience,” and something that he will never forget.