(Long Island, NY) The Fourth Squad reports the details of two arrests for Criminal Possession of a Weapon and Menacing that occurred on Thursday, August 20, 2015 at 1:18 am in Valley Stream.

According to detectives, a male victim, 23, received a text message from an acquaintance, defendant Jacqueline Espinoza, 19, of Franklin Square to meet at a parking lot on South Grove Street. When the victim approached the vehicle that Espinoza was standing next to, defendant Makhel Hull, 21, of Poughquag exited the vehicle and menaced the victim while holding a black handgun. The victim left scene and notified police.

Nassau County Police reports the arrest of Jacqueline Espinoza, 19, of Franklin Square for Criminal Possession of a Weapon and Menacing that occurred on Thursday, August 20 in Valley Stream. Photo Credit: NCPD.

Fifth Precinct officers located the vehicle on Rockaway Parkway and placed defendant Espinoza under arrest, defendant Hull fled on foot northbound Rockaway Parkway and was apprehended a short time later with assistance from the Canine Unit. A loaded .40 caliber handgun was recovered from the vehicle.

Nassau County Police reports the arrest of Makhel Hull, 21, of Poughquag for Criminal Possession of a Weapon and Menacing that occurred on Thursday, August 20 in Valley Stream. Photo Credit: NCPD.

Both defendants Jacqueline Espinoza and Makhel Hull are charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon 2nd degree and Menacing 2nd degree. Both defendants will be arraigned on Thursday, August 20, 2015 at First District Court in Hempstead.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Grant will help Freeport meet overtime staffing needs for law enforcement officers

(Long Island, NY) U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice (NY-04) announced today that the Village of Freeport has been awarded $13,695 in federal funding to support overtime payments to law enforcement officers. The funds were awarded through the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program, which provides funding to states and local governments to support a range of crime prevention activities based on state and local needs.

“This federal investment helps make streets and neighborhoods safer for children, families and seniors in Freeport. When it comes to protecting our citizens we must be well-funded and smart, and this Department of Justice grant will help the Village of Freeport improve the public safety system,” said Senator Schumer.

“This federal investment will help support police officers who keep the streets and neighborhoods of Freeport safe and secure,” said Senator Gillibrand.  “Protecting our families and communities is a top priority and I will continue to push for funding to help get our police officers the resources needed to carry out their critical work more effectively.”

“The most important job we have at all levels of government is to keep people safe, and this funding will ensure that the Village of Freeport can meet their overtime staffing needs and continue to prevent crime in the Freeport community,” said Representative Kathleen Rice. “I’m pleased we were able to secure these funds for Freeport, and I’ll continue working to provide all communities in our district with the support they need to prevent crime and keep people safe.”

“The Freeport residents, Staff, and Police Department greatly appreciate the assistance of Senator Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congresswoman Rice for securing the JAG grant for the Village of Freeport,” said Village of Freeport Mayor Robert T. Kennedy. “This grant will provide additional overtime for our Police Department to ensure safety and security to all of the residents in Freeport.”

(Long Island, NY) Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (R, C, I – South Huntington) recently joined the International Youth Fellowship (IYF) to celebrate the opening ceremony of their World Camp. For the third year, Assemblyman Lupinacci attended this event and commended the International Youth Fellowship on their devotion to youths around the world.

Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (left) greeting members of the International Youth Fellowship. Photo Credit: NYS.

“The IYF is an incredible organization whose message truly resonates with young people throughout the world,” said Lupinacci. “I am proud to have an IYF outpost in the 10^th Assembly District, and I welcome the diversity and faith they bring to our area,” continued Lupinacci.

“For the third year, I am astonished by this organization’s ability to unify young people from throughout the world in song and dance, all the while teaching them to use positivity as their inspiration throughout their lives. I commend the program’s founder, Dr. Ock Soo Park, the administration and each of the participants, and I wish them continued success in the future,” concluded Lupinacci.

Purdue Pharma Agrees to Important Business Practice Changes That Can Help Protect Public Against Dangers Associated With Overprescribing Of Painkillers, Opioid Addiction Epidemic

(Long Island, NY) Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced an agreement with Purdue Pharma, L.P. (“Purdue”), a pharmaceutical manufacturer of the long-acting opioid, OxyContin. The agreement strengthens and makes permanent an internal Purdue program aimed at preventing its sales staff from promoting the powerful painkiller to health care providers who may be involved in abuse and illegal diversion of opioids. The agreement also requires Purdue to disclose financial relationships with any individuals, including doctors and other health care professionals, who appear on the company’s “unbranded” websites that endorse the benefits of pain treatment, including the website www.inthefaceofpain.com.

“Over the past two decades, New York has experienced a sharp increase in opioid addiction and that has coincided with the substantially increased sale of oxycodone,” Attorney General Scheiderman said. “The public health crisis created by opioid overprescribing in New York remains pervasive and extremely dangerous. My office will work to ensure that prescription drugs are marketed and prescribed responsibly – and that consumers get the information they need about the risks of addiction to painkillers.”

Between the 1990s and 2011, prescriptions of oxycodone more than doubled in the U.S. and sales of the product increased more than tenfold. Between 2008 and 2011, OxyContin, the company’s brand name for its long-acting oxycodone pills, accounted for approximately 10% of the total oxycodone prescriptions in New York State. During this time period, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the number of opioid painkiller prescriptions filled by New York City residents increased by 31%, from approximately 1.6 million to approximately 2.2 million, with oxycodone accounting for 53% of those prescriptions.

Between 1997 and 2011, there was also a sharp increase in the prevalence of opioid addiction, which in turn has been associated with a rise in overdose deaths and heroin use. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in New York State, from 2003 to 2012, deaths involving opioid analgesics increased five-fold, from 179 in 2003 to 883 in 2012.

Purdue, like many drug companies, employs sales representatives who visit physicians’ offices to encourage them to prescribe the company’s products to their patients, with the representatives receiving a bonus based on the number of prescriptions written. Purdue’s Abuse and Diversion Detection Program (ADD), sometimes referred to as “Region Zero,” requires its sales representatives to report to the company any facts that suggest a health care provider to whom it markets opioids may be involved in the abuse or illegal diversion of opioid products. When a provider is reported under the program, Purdue conducts an internal inquiry regarding the provider to determine whether he or she should be placed on a “no-call” list. If a provider is placed on this list, Purdue sales representatives may no longer contact the provider to promote the company’s opioid products.

The Attorney General’s investigation, which began in December 2013, revealed that in certain instances, Purdue may have failed to take the necessary steps to ensure that their sales representatives: (a) properly flagged all professionals who were potentially involved in the abuse and diversion of opioids, and (b) stopped calling on providers on the company’s “no-call” list.

The Attorney General’s investigation further found that Purdue’s unbranded pain management website, www.inthefaceofpain.com suggests that its content is neutral and unbiased, but that many advocates appearing on the site were paid by Purdue. The site contains testimonials from several dozen “advocates,” many of whom are health care providers, advocating for more pain treatment. The website failed to disclose that over the course of six years, Purdue paid almost $231,000 to eleven of the advocates.

The agreement requires important disclosures on any unbranded websites maintained by Purdue, including www.inthefaceofpain.com. As a result of this agreement, consumers will be able to identify those providers and other individuals who appear on these websites promoting pain management and have a financial relationship with Purdue. The company will also provide on these sites information regarding the risks of opioids, including the risk of addiction.

Under the terms of the New York agreement, Purdue, headquartered in Stamford, Conn., will continue to implement the ADD program in New York for so long as it markets OxyContin in the state. The agreement strengthens this program by outlining additional measures Purdue must adopt to ensure it does not promote its opioid products to providers who may prescribe these drugs inappropriately or illegally. Such measures include adding new “red flags” that will trigger an internal investigation by Purdue, and requiring Purdue to proactively identify providers who should be reviewed for potential placement on their “no call list.” Sales representatives must now file reports about providers who may not be abiding by I-STOP, New York’s signature law requiringNew York health care providers to consult a database of a patient’s prescription history before prescribing a controlled substance, including narcotic painkillers.

The agreement further ensures that sales representatives do not contact providers on the “no call” list by imposing such safeguards as: (a) requiring representatives to check the “no-call” list before contacting a provider, (b) subjecting representatives to potential disciplinary action for contacting such providers, and (c) not counting prescriptions of Purdue opioid products by such providers towards sales representatives’ bonuses.

Significantly, the agreement also requires Purdue’s sales representatives who market Purdue opioid products to health care providers to ask whether the provider has completed an FDA-approved training program regarding the appropriate prescribing of opioids, and to provide information about such training. Purdue will also provide, upon request, information regarding addiction treatment resources to providers to whom it markets its opioid products.

As part of the settlement, the company will pay $75,000 in penalties and costs.

The OAG has taken a multi-pronged approach to combatting New York’s prescription drug abuse epidemic. Attorney General Schneiderman’s ground-breaking law, “Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing Act,” or “I-STOP,” which became effective in August 2013, has reduced “doctor-shopping” by 75%.  The OAG has prosecuted many health care providers who illegally prescribed and diverted opioids. The OAG has also aggressively enforced laws that require parity in health plan coverage of mental health and addiction treatment. The OAG’s Community Overdose Prevention (COP) Program, which equips New York law enforcement agencies with a life-saving heroin overdose antidote, has saved more than 100 lives.

The investigation of this matter was conducted by Assistant Attorney General Michael D. Reisman, of the Attorney General’s Health Care Bureau, which is led by Bureau Chief Lisa Landau. The Health Care Bureau is a part of the Social Justice Division, led by Executive Deputy Attorney General for Social Justice Alvin Bragg.

A copy of the settlement can be read here.

Featuring a special Q&A with Director Rex Miller at Soundview Cinemas in Port Washington on August 29

(Long Island, NY) The Gold Coast International Film Festival (GCIFF) will be hosting the Long Island Premiere of a new film, ALTHEA, about the trailblazing tennis pioneer Althea Gibson. The screening will take place on Saturday, August 29^th at 7:30pm at Soundview Cinemas in Port Washington. A post-screening discussion will follow featuring acclaimed director, Rex Miller. The premiere is sponsored by the USTA Eastern of Long Island Region.

The Gold Coast International Film Festival will be hosting ALTHEA, a documentary about the trailblazing tennis pioneer Althea Gibson. Photo Credit: GCIFF.

Althea Gibson was the first African American tennis player to cross the color line. From her roots as a sharecropper’s daughter from South Carolina, to her unlikely ascension within the highly segregated tennis world in the 1950s – in her time, Gibson was recognized as the queen of the sport. She would go on to make history, playing and winning at Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958, and was twice became the U.S. Nationals champion – the precursor of the U.S. Open. The film reveals the triumphs and trials of an amazing athlete whose life and achievements have entered the annals of African American, and tennis history. ALTHEA reveals rare archival material and compelling interviews with those who knew Gibson personally, such as former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, widow of Arthur Ashe, and Billie Jean King (who also serves as one of the executive producers of the film). Gibson’s impact on the sport included her brilliant athleticism, and the way in which she navigated through complex issues surrounding race, class, and gender. She paved the way for legends such as King, as well as the phenomenal Venus and Serena Williams. 50 years after Gibson’s Wimbledon victory, Venus Williams won the Wimbledon trophy, as well as prize money that was equal to her male counterpart – also a first in Wimbledon’s history. Gibson’s legacy continues live on in this new film that celebrates her past achievements and current influence.

Gibson’s legacy continues live on in this new film that celebrates her past achievements and current influence. Photo Credit: GCIFF.

The GCIFF produces a year-round film series featuring an exciting slate of quality films and award-winning talent. This fall, the GCIFF will be celebrating its 5^th Anniversary Festival November 9–15, and recently won first place in “The Best of the North Shore” competition as the “Best Attraction” within the region.

ABOUT THE GOLD COAST INTL FILM FESTIVAL

Produced by the Gold Coast Arts Center, the festival has built a reputation for bringing the latest Hollywood hits and Indie favorites to the fabled Gold Coast of Long Island. Add A-list celebrities and unforgettable events to the mix and it’s easy to see why GCIFF has become the “go to” Festival for film buffs in the area and beyond (it is also the last major film festival on the East Coast before Awards season).

The 2014 Festival included 25 feature length films and 35 shorts from around the world, and showcased over 40 filmmakers and special guests, including 4-time Oscar winner Catherine Martin who accepted our Artist of Distinction Award and screenwriter and director Marc Lawrence (Miss Congeniality) and award-winning actor Hugh Grant, both of whom participated in a Q&A after a pre-release screening of their new film The Rewrite. Among the other notables who attended: Len Berman from NBC Sports, David Paterson (Screenwriter, Bridge to Teribithia), Jim Serpico Lee Ielpi, Kristin Thorne of ABC 7, Tony Award-winning actors Phylicia Rashad and Ruben Santiago Hudson, and NY Times sportswriter Harvey Araton.

The year before, the Festival honored legendary actor, Paul Sorvino (GoodFellas, Bulworth, The Cooler) with a Lifetime Achievement Award during their Annual Benefit Gala. The Gala also honored Susie Essman, (co-star of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm) with the Artist of Distinction Award for Comedy. Melanie Lynsky (2 ½ Men, Ever After), Emmy Nominated Actor, Jason Ritter (Parenthood), Sean Young and Robert Clohessy were among others who attended the festivities.

GCIFF presents sensational events to SRO audiences year-round. Some other past highlights include: an exclusive pre-release screening of The Great Gatsby with Baz Luhrmann, plus screenings and events with notable filmmakers and artists Edward Burns, Brian Dennehy, Phil Donahue, Isabella Rossellini, Bill Plympton, Bruce Dern, Joan Allen, Gabriel Byrne, Celeste Holm, Eli Wallach, Robert Klein, Nelson DeMille, Francis Ford Coppola, Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Alan King and Kelli O’Hara to name a few.

Past and current Sponsors of the Festival included long-standing partners, the Town of North Hempstead; as well as Nassau County, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, AMC Networks, deluxe, A.L. Sarroff Fund, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP and J.M. Kaplan Fund, as well as The Katz Center of North Shore –LIJ Health Systems, AAA, Samar Hospitality, The Andrew Hotel, LIU Post, The Amsterdam at Harborside, Parker Jewish Institute, LVR, Star Industries, DE Capital Mortgage, Whole Foods, Stella Artois, Limousines Worldwide, WLIW21, New York Women in Film & Television and many others.

For more information please visit www.goldcoastfilmfestival.org.

About the Gold Coast Arts Center:
The Gold Coast Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting and supporting the arts through education, exhibition, performance and outreach. For over 20 years we have brought the arts and arts in education experiences to tens of thousands of people throughout our region through our 1) School for the Arts, which offers year-round classes in all visual and performing arts to students of all ages and abilities, (2) Free public art gallery, (3) Concert and lecture series, (4) Outreach programs, which each year bring artist residencies, after-school programs, school assemblies, teacher training workshops and parent-child workshops to students, senior citizens, teachers and others in underserved communities throughout our region, (5) Year round film screening and discussion series and (6) Gold Coast International Film Festival, now in its 4th year. The Arts Center is an affiliate of the John F Kennedy Center for the for the Performing Arts: Partners in Education Program and National Gallery of Art, both located in Washington DC.

(Long Island, NY) Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and East Hampton Town Police Department detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate two men who burglarized an East Hampton restaurant this week.

East Hampton Town Police are seeking the public’s help to identify two men who burglarized an East Hampton restaurant this week. Photo Credit: EHPD.

Two men broke into Bay Kitchen Bar, located at 39 Gann Road, on August 17 at 1:30 a.m. and stole an undisclosed amount of money.

Two men broke into Bay Kitchen Bar and stole an undisclosed amount of money. Photo Credit: EHPD.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

4:00pm-8:00pm at Farmingdale State College

(Long Island, NY) Long Island community leaders in the field of substance use and addiction are encouraging both Nassau and Suffolk Counties to collaborate and work together in order to fight the current drug crisis that is plaguing Long Island at devastating rates. Under the leadership of F.I.S.T. (Families in Support of Treatment) a not-for-profit organization founded to advocate for families and promote on demand access to treatment for substance use disorders, community-based organizations, treatment agencies, government, and concerned community members have organized the First Annual Walk for Recovery on August 30, 2015 at Farmingdale State College. The walk will strategically cross into both Nassau and Suffolk County in a unified statement to honor those that have lost their battle to substance use, support those in the fight, and call on those in recovery to share their stories of strength and hope.

Last year on Long Island, 341 individuals lost their life to overdose, a number that doesn’t come close to speaking to the thousands of people affected by this disease every day in both counties. For the past decade, dedicated groups of people have been able to change laws and policies at the state level while simultaneously helping one person at a time access treatment, support services and find recovery from substance use disorders.

As the number of people on Long Island affected by substance use grows each year, so does the number of those joining the fight and advocating for change. Groups such as F.I.S.T., Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD), and Long Island Recovery Association (LIRA), have been able to make progress through petitions, letters, visits to Albany and organized events across New York State. This walk will be the first to unite Long Island without borders, and is a first step towards inviting representatives from both counties to initiate a joint effort to implement changes that can help save lives.

The event is free for all to attend and is family friendly. There will be kid-friendly attractions, games, live music, food, a resource fair as well as a full program of speakers. Attendees are encouraged to bring a sign or picture to show support, promote recovery, or honor a loved one. The walk will begin at approximately 4:30pm.

For questions about this event, please contact Anthony Rizzuto, Executive Director and Founder of F.I.S.T. at (516)316-6387 or anthony@fist-familiesinsupportoftreatment.com.

Attendees are asked to please register at: http://events.constantcontacts.com/register/event?llr=pz5gp7iab&oeidk=ebbxyzj30c085570.

(Long Island, NY) Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce JOE DELIA & THIEVES will be live in concert on Friday, September 18 at 8 pm. Tickets are available by calling the Box Office at 631-725-9500 or online at baystreet.org.

Joe Delia. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

JOE DELIA & THIEVES brings hot rollicking blues to this evening of music.  Joe Delia, a gold and platinum record producer and writer, is internationally-known as a blazing keyboardist and consummate showman.  Joe’s locally experienced and penned songs, like the plaintive “Under the Montauk Moon” and “Fire In My Belly.” He has worked with Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Stanley Turrentine and more. When not on stage, he has composed scores for over 30 feature films and countless documentaries and network shows, his first being on the Ed Sullivan Show as a Muppet.

Joe Delia. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

Joe Delia pulls on this varied and rich musical experience to make each show different and delicious, winning several Dan’s Paper’s “Best of the Best” Gold Awards. The show gives you the option to sit back and enjoy the music or get up and dance.

Joe Delia. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

The show will begin with a brief and elevating solo set by Joe.  Then he’ll kick up the temperature with his Blues band Thieves (Local legend Klyph Black, Grammy artist Michael Vinas, and Hamptons favorite James Benard).  Sweet and sultry will be added in with the always popular Thievettes (Radio personality Bonnie Grice, Grammy Producer/Recording artist Cynthia Daniels, and voiceover artist PJ Delia.

Joe Delia. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center which endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. We serve as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists.

Senator Croci Calls for the Protection of New Yorkers through State Compliance of the Federal REAL ID Act as Governor Cuomo lauds the “new” NYS Driver’s License Design

(Long Island, NY) New York State Senator Thomas D. Croci (R-C-I, Sayville), Chairman of the Senate’s Homeland Security, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee, called on New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo to address the non-compliance of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to the federal REAL ID Act.

“Today, Governor Cuomo announced an initiative to educate bar owners about ‘revamped’ New York State ID Cards.  What the Governor failed to include in his press release, which oddly touts changes to the ID cards which have been distributed by DMV for nearly two years now, is that New York State ID cards continue to be non-compliant with the federal REAL ID Act.

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, REAL ID, which was passed by Congress and signed in to law in 2005, is a coordinated effort by the states and Federal Government intended to improve the reliability and accuracy of state-issued identification documents, which serve to inhibit a terrorists’ ability to evade detection by using fraudulent identification.  The standards established by this Act resulted from a Congressional study investigating the various factors that led to the horrific tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001.  Above developing tamper proof technologies within the identification card itself, states were asked to initiate a process whereby the documentation submitted by an individual applying for a state issued drivers license could be verified as authentic.  This requirement was meant to ensure that terrorists, and those individuals who are otherwise in our country illegally, were not issued identification cards based on the proffering of forged or otherwise fake documentation.  For the last ten years, our DMV has made absolutely no effort to comply with the authentication requirements, thereby allowing those who are in our country illegally the ability to fraudulently obtain state issued identification cards.  It is an outrage that forty-six states have complied, learning lessons from the attacks on September 11^th, while New York, the number one terrorist target in the world, has simply failed to act.

The decision by the Governor to educate bar owners without first addressing the critical vulnerability of our license and ID system is deeply flawed and makes New Yorkers less safe every day.

Above and beyond the homeland security threat that this non-compliance creates, this lawlessness has real-life effects on every day New Yorkers and may soon impact our ability to travel.  According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, beginning no sooner than January 1, 2016, any individual wishing to board an aircraft must present identification which complies with the provisions of the REAL ID Act.  In typical New York fashion, our state DMV has taken this as an opportunity to collect more money from law abiding New York State residents.  Our DMV is unique in that we are the only state still offering non-compliant IDs to the general population, but will only offer Enhanced Drivers Licenses (which comply with the REAL ID Act), for an additional fee, to those who are privileged enough to be able to absorb the additional cost.

In the most recent legislative session, I introduced Senate Bill 5842, which directs the department of motor vehicles to re-issue drivers licenses which are compliant with the federal REAL ID act, to all eligible New Yorkers, at no additional cost. Further, this bill would require DMV to file an annual report with the legislature regarding any and all other federal laws or regulations which the department has failed to comply with.  Instead of touting changes that are several years old, which fall very short of complying with federal homeland security laws, our Governor should be focused on protecting New Yorkers from the next terrorist attack and ensuring that law abiding New Yorkers aren’t penalized by the failure of our DMV,” stated Senator Croci.

NYS Senator Tom Croci is the Chairman of the NYS Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Veterans and Military Affairs; was a former member of Bush Administration Homeland Security Council Staff; and served as Senior Duty Officer in the White House Situation Room.  Senator Croci is currently a Naval Intelligence Commander in the Navy Reserves.

All media inquiries should be directed to Senator Croci’s Communications Specialist, Christine Geed at (631) 398-8044 (call or text) or via email at geed@nysenate.gov.  Inquiries for additional information should be directed to Senator Croci’s Press Secretary, Jennifer Freeman Romero at (631) 513-5657 or via email at jfreeman@nysenate.gov.

(Long Island, NY) Vehicle Tracking Solutions, a leading SaaS provider of Fleet Management Solutions continued their annual support for Angela’s House with a $10,000 donation.  The contribution will be used to purchase critical care medical equipment and supplies for the Smithtown and Stony Brook Houses.

Angela’s House was founded by the Policastro family 23 years ago following the tragic crisis they lived through with their daughter Angela. Today, Angela’s House stands as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to assisting families caring for children with special healthcare needs.  Angela’s House assists families caring for children who are medically fragile, chronically ill, or are suffering from a life-threatening illness. These homes are the first of their kind in New York State with the ability to care for children that require ventilator support to assist them with breathing. With 24-hour nursing care, Angela’s House is currently operating homes in East Moriches, Smithtown and Stony Brook. Karen Cunningham, Co-Founder and CFO of Vehicle Tracking Solutions added, “We are honored to be associated with Angela’s House.  Bob and his staff have created a warm and loving home environment for these children.  We hope to continue bringing awareness to Angela’s House and the exceptional care given these children.”

Vehicle Tracking Solutions, a leading SaaS provider of Fleet Management Solutions continued their annual support for Angela’s House with a $10,000 donation. Photo Credit: VTS.

Vehicle Tracking Solutions has been “Driving Productivity” by harnessing the power of GPS satellites to locate, track and monitor vehicle fleets, enabling businesses to increase safety and productivity while reducing operating costs. Founded in 2002, Vehicle Tracking Solutions is the premier fleet management systems provider in the Northeast.  VTS supports 50,000 vehicles through their proprietary program, Silent Passenger, an enterprise-level car and truck fleet efficiency system, offering a wide range of applications and benefits designed to help customers improve their fleet efficiency while increasing their bottom line.

Bob Policastro, Founder and Director of Angela’s House, commented “It is comforting to know that we have a great partner In Vehicle Tracking Solutions.  John and Karen have supported us for over 5 years and we are so thankful for their generosity and friendship.  We are very touched not only their donation but by their continued support in bringing awareness to our efforts.”