MONTICELLO - The SYDA Foundation presents the Community Service Award annually to someone in Sullivan County who demonstrates exceptional service to their community. This year, Greg Goldstein is the recipient of the award.

A representative from SYDA, Margaret Ratchford, presented Goldstein with the award and a check for $5,000 at the Sullivan County legislature meeting in the Government Center on Thursday.

Ratchford said she and her family would come to Sullivan County during the summers. She had a job as a camp counselor at Lansman's Country Club and she fell in love with the community and its businesses, residents, diners and hotels. Now she lives in Atlanta, GA but she was glad to be back in the area on behalf of the SYDA Foundation, a Sullivan County-based non-profit organization that works to protect, preserve, and facilitate the dissemination of Siddha Yoga teachings.

“It is a great honor to be associated with this very special community, and an even greater honor to be here with you today to recognize someone who has given so much to it,” Ratchford said.

Since 1986, the SYDA Foundation Board of Trustees has presented this annual award to outstanding citizens who are selected by a committee of former award recipients and Sullivan County leaders from business, government, and civic service organizations.

Goldstein was born and raised in Sullivan County, graduating from Roscoe High School and went right to work. He met his wife, Linda, and began working for her family's insurance company, the Misner Agency.

In addition to raising a family and expanding the family business, Goldstein has given decades of service to the community. He was a Sullivan County legislator, president of the Fallsburg School Board and Town Supervisor for Neversink.

He is the Chair of the Board of Directors for SullivanArc, a not-for-profit agency dedicated to providing support and services to people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and to their families. He hosts the annual Boys and Girls Club celebrity dinner, which raised $60,000 for at risk youth.

He also is the voice of the annual St. Jude Children's Research Hospital radiothon, which raises money for children with cancer. And he serves on the board of Begin Again Transitional Services (BATS) for veterans.

Goldstein accepted the award and thanked those who won the award before. “The biggest honor is that the prior winners are the ones that have chosen me as this year's winner,” Goldstein said. “These prior winners are the fabric of our great county and they believe as I do that we all need to give back to our community since we have been fortunate in the direction we have taken.”

The SYDA Foundation gives each winner $5,000 to be donated to a charity of their choice. Goldstein announced that he would give $1,000 each to Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties, SullivanArc, the Boys and Girls Club, Federation for the Homeless and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

“I would like everyone to think about donating their time to local organizations like the Lions, rotary, fire departments, ambulance corps, many organizations that are looking for strong leaders,” Goldstein said. “The time that you put in is rewarding and I believe that we owe it to give back to our communities.”