Our Mission
Our mission is to provide awareness, resources, referral, prevention, education and life skills to parents of children in substance abuse situations .
Alcohol, drug abuse, suicide and mental health are major concerns among children today. As a result the entire family suffers. Parents can feel helpless, as many don’t know where to turn. I have personally experienced the horror of watching the destruction that drugs and alcohol can cause. Through my personal experience, combined with my attained education and resources, I am compelled to advocate "PICK” (Parents In Connection for Kids Inc) as a vehicle to empower others to know that there is help and hope available. P.I.C.K. also educate's professionals by providing resources for data collection on specific topics. Teachers, our medical community, businesses, athletic coaches, treatment, recovery and prevention professionals will all find useful information in this section. Our Vision Everyone is relevant in our community. We want to break the stigma of Addiction, encourage the public to reach out for help, inform them, advocate for them and offer resources to prevent the early onset of addiction. OUR PURPOSE We are a non- profit agency dedicated to reducing heroin overdoses and Substance Use Disorder -Donna DeStefano, Founder and CEO 
This is me with my daughters, Cheyenne, Jamie and Laura
PICK's Board members:
Donna DeStefano, Founder & CEO Brian DeStefano Laura DeSimone Jamie Esposito Cheyenne DeStefano Thomas Calcagni Thomas Calcagni is a named partner and co-founder of Calcagni & Kanefsky. Before joining the firm, Tom was the First Assistant Attorney General for New Jersey, the State’s second highest-ranking prosecutor. He previously served for two years as New Jersey’s Director of the State Division of Consumer Affairs and for nine years as a Federal prosecutor. Mr. Calcagni is a seasoned trial lawyer who focuses his practice on representing corporations and individuals in high-stakes government and regulatory investigations. As New Jersey’s First Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Calcagni managed large-scale criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions for the 8,000-employee Department of Law and Public Safety. Overseeing the New Jersey State Police, the State Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, and New Jersey’s Divisions of Criminal Justice and Consumer Affairs, Mr. Calcagni directed hundreds of matters involving corruption, bribery, financial fraud, healthcare fraud, securities fraud, and consumer protection violations. Prior to his 2012 appointment as First Assistant Attorney General, Tom served as New Jersey’s Director of the State Division of Consumer Affairs. In that post, Mr. Calcagni led a staff of 600 in the investigation and prosecution of both civil and regulatory securities and healthcare matters, among numerous other financial frauds and consumer law violations. During his service, the work of the agency received acclaim from lawmakers and media outlets for its effective regulation of thousands of businesses and professionals, and its proactive enforcement of the State’s Consumer Fraud Act. From 2001 to 2010, as a Federal prosecutor, Mr. Calcagni served in the Civil, Criminal and Special Prosecution Divisions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey, where he investigated and successfully tried numerous high-profile matters involving fraud and public corruption. During his government service, Mr. Calcagni received many commendations, awards, and letters of appreciation from the Department of Justice, FBI, IRS, and other federal and state agencies for excellence in investigative and trial work. In 2004, the U.S. Attorney General appointed Tom to serve on the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, where he presided over personal injury hearings and determined compensation awards for 9/11 victims and their families. As an Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University School of Law for many years, Mr. Calcagni has taught Appellate Advocacy to second- and third-year law students. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Calcagni practiced as a litigator with McElroy, Deutsche & Mulvaney, representing both corporate and individual clients in all aspects of criminal and civil litigation. Mr. Calcagni clerked for Federal Judge Katharine S. Hayden in the District of New Jersey, and for Appellate Judge Donald S. Coburn in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. He graduated Cum Laude from Bowdoin College in 1994, and is a 1997 graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law where he served as an Editor of the Law Review. He is admitted to the bars of New Jersey and New York. Tom can be reached at: |-862-397-1796 | tcalcagni@ck-litigation.com |
Sponsors and Supporters
I would like to thank Dr. Christopher Godek and Staff at The Personal Enhancement Center of Toms River, N.J. for sponsoring me and financially making it possible to create this website. Their compassion for helping people achieve their goals physically and personally and their efforts in giving back to various interests in the community make them leaders for positive change. Also, to Geri Watson, then Director of the Mrs. New Jersey America Pageant for inspiring me to create this website to help families find resources. And….. to Thomas Calcagni, our new board member for helping us obtain P.I.C.K.'s Non- for Profit 501© 3 status! A special thank you to Jill Quaranta for building this website so I could add the content and for teaching me how to maintain it! Jill can build one for you too! by contacting her at jill.lauren.quaranta@gmail.com -Donna DeStefano |