Sullivan County Humanitarian Gary Silver to Receive 2020 SYDA Foundation Community Service Award
 
South Fallsburg, NY – October 29, 2020 – The SYDA Foundation has announced that Gary Silver of Liberty, New York, has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 SYDA Foundation Community Service Award. This prestigious award includes a certificate of merit for outstanding service to the Sullivan County community and a monetary gift to be distributed by the recipients to the charities of their choice.  In 2020, in honor of the 35th anniversary the Community Service Award initiative, the monetary gift has been increased to $6,000. 
 
Since 1986 the SYDA Foundation has sponsored this annual award to recognize and honor local citizens for outstanding community service. The selection committee, comprised of past award recipients and local civic leaders, chose Gary Silver to receive this year’s award in recognition of his many years of service to the community of Sullivan County. Gary’s primary service focus is leading projects to support the basic requirements of those in need, including addressing food insecurity; participating on humanitarian missions to provide clean-water filtration systems; and supporting organizations that coordinate and deliver emergency local and global disaster relief.
Sullivan County Humanitarian Gary Silver to Receive 2020 SYDA Foundation Community Service Award
 
South Fallsburg, NY – October 29, 2020 – The SYDA Foundation has announced that Gary Silver of Liberty, New York, has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 SYDA Foundation Community Service Award. This prestigious award includes a certificate of merit for outstanding service to the Sullivan County community and a monetary gift to be distributed by the recipients to the charities of their choice.  In 2020, in honor of the 35th anniversary the Community Service Award initiative, the monetary gift has been increased to $6,000. 
 
Since 1986 the SYDA Foundation has sponsored this annual award to recognize and honor local citizens for outstanding community service. The selection committee, comprised of past award recipients and local civic leaders, chose Gary Silver to receive this year’s award in recognition of his many years of service to the community of Sullivan County. Gary’s primary service focus is leading projects to support the basic requirements of those in need, including addressing food insecurity; participating on humanitarian missions to provide clean-water filtration systems; and supporting organizations that coordinate and deliver emergency local and global disaster relief.
 
After graduating with distinction from Hofstra University’s School of Law, Gary moved from Long Island, NY, to Sullivan County with his wife, Diane, to clerk for the Hon. Robert C. Williams, Justice of New York Supreme Court Third Judicial District.
 
For many years Gary Silver has been an active member of the Liberty Rotary Club and has served in various roles, including as President and Director of the club. When the COVID-19 crisis hit Sullivan County, Gary took on a leadership role in overseeing and coordinating volunteers for Operation Feed, a win-win endeavor that engaged with and supported over 14 local restaurants to provide food for essential workers. He guided Operation Feed as it pivoted to address food insecurity for people suffering from the pandemic’s economic effects. By partnering with Single Bite, an organization that prepares healthy meals for those in need, Operation Feed has successfully delivered tens of thousands of healthy meals over the last few months here in Sullivan County. Gary is currently working with Operation Feed and Single Bite to develop a program to provide healthy meals to schoolchildren and their families.
 
Gary’s community service has extended beyond Sullivan County. Through the Liberty Rotary Club and Operation Endeavor, a not-for-profit organization that provides disaster relief locally and abroad, Gary helped collect and provide supplies for hurricane relief in Texas, North Carolina and Puerto Rico. In 2014 he traveled to Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, with the organization Archangel Airborne to provide water filtration units and medical clinics to serve families living in poverty. Gary has since visited Haiti ten times as a volunteer for humanitarian missions.
 
Gary also serves as the Village of Liberty Attorney and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development. He resides in Liberty with his wife, Diane. They have two adult daughters, Alex and Michelle.
 
Due to ongoing pandemic concerns, this year the SYDA Foundation Community Service Award will be presented in a virtual format. The virtual award presentation will take place on Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 10:15 a.m. via videoconference. To request the link to participate, please email csa@syda.org.
 
Everyone is warmly invited to attend. 
 
 
The SYDA Foundation, located in the Town of Fallsburg since 1979, is a not-for-profit organization that makes Siddha Yoga meditation available to students around the world. In addition to sponsoring the Community Service Award, the SYDA Foundation contributes to the Sullivan County community through annual monetary donations to the local volunteer fire departments, police department, school district, and hospital, and through its philanthropic expression—PRASAD Children’s Dental Health Program.