Markertek’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament Comes to Wiltwyck July 13

Over the past 26 years, the Markertek Open Charitable Golf Tournament has established itself as one of the Hudson Valley’s premier golf events.  Established by the late Mark Braunstein, the beloved founder of the successful local tech company Markertek and one of the Hudson Valley’s most impactful philanthropists, the Tournament was a natural outgrowth of his deep commitment to helping eradicate food insecurity in the Hudson Valley.

Markertek Open Charitable Golf Tournament
Saturday, July 13th at 12 pm
Wiltwyck Golf Club | Kingston, NY

Founded in 1987, Saugerties-based Markertek grew from humble beginnings in a Woodstock garage to become a leading global provider of cutting-edge electronic equipment and engineering solutions for broadcast networks, recording studios, events spaces and corporations, with more than 30,000 customers worldwide.

“The desire to give back to the community, especially to those in need of emergency food and shelter, was hard-wired into Mark’s vision of Markertek from the beginning,” says Greg DeCelle, Chief Marketing Officer for Tower Products, Markertek’s parent company.

“Mark believed there was no greater or purer act of giving than working to ensure food security for his fellow man. And it’s been a passion for everyone in our company for over 30 years.”

The primary vehicle for Braunstein and the company’s giving is the Markertek Fund, co-founded with current CEO Jim Veltrie in 1993. The Fund’s main focus has been to help alleviate low food security via a variety of initiatives, including supporting area food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters through regional food banks.

DeCelle continues, “We set up and fund ongoing accounts at The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York with donations twice a year. We provide support in November, the traditional giving season, and in May, when many charity coffers start to run dry. We set up accounts where more than a dozen local soup kitchens, food pantries, emergency shelters, senior care, daycare and medical rehabilitation sites, and organizations, including People’s Place and FAMILY, can purchase en masse from the regional food bank.

As a result, every dollar donated provides four meals of real food to those in need. These food and shelter providers reap the rewards and experience some peace of mind by having an established and consistent source for emergency food.”  The Markertek Fund’s financial support also improves the food banks’ chances for earning federal and state grants and other matching funds.

Together, the Regional Food Bank and the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley distribute over 30 million pounds of food to 1,000+ emergency providers in 23 counties in New York State.

While Markertek’s charity programs span the entire year, its cornerstone event is The Markertek Open Charitable Golf Tournament. This year, the event will take place on Saturday, July 13, at Kingston’s championship-rated golf course, Wiltwyck Golf Club.

Every July since 1997, Markertek employees, along with their customers and vendors from around the country, have participated in this first-class sporting and social event. The tournament is also supported by Markertek’s local business partners, with prize donations from companies including Sawyer Motors, Woodstock Chimes, RSS Insurance and Black Swan Sailing, as well as area golf courses and restaurants.

To date, the event has raised more than $700,000 to support the food banks and other local initiatives, with Food Bank of the Hudson Valley the official beneficiary of the event’s proceeds.

Braunstein and Markertek’s food security initiatives date back to 1993, when Mark and the late Victoria Langling, Markertek Fund’s first director,  helped co-found Woodstock’s Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, currently housed in the Fellowship Hall of Christ’s Lutheran Church on Mill Hill Road. The Kitchen serves approximately 40 meals per day every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with more than 6,600 meals per year and an estimated 200,000 meals served since its founding.

“Victoria was someone who was always out in the community, seemingly hard-wired to any charitable group or pro-social organization that was doing great things and maybe needed support,” says Pat Lieske, Markertek’s recently retired Vice President of Human Resources and current Board Member who spearheads some of its charitable efforts. “She, together with Mark, very much set the tone and template for what we’re doing today.”

Lieske has been a linchpin in orchestrating another of Markertek’s major annual charity campaigns, its Thanksgiving meals program. As chronicled in INSIDE+OUT’s November 21 feature, “A Legacy That Continues to Feed the Hungry on Thanksgiving & Beyond“, Markertek’s employees provide boots-on-the-ground support for this effort, which, in partnership with Diamond Mills Resort and its Blackbarn Restaurant, Community Foundations of Hudson Valley, Hudson Valley Farm Hub, and others, provides food to over 1,000 local families in need.

While feeding the hungry is its primary charter, Markertek also sponsors many events and worthy organizations throughout the Hudson Valley. It’s a generous supporter of many popular local events past and present, including Radio Woodstock’s Pink October for Breast Cancer Awareness; The Rosendale Street Festival; Hope Rocks; The O+ Festival; The Phoenicia Festival of the Voice; Sawyer Motors’ Car Show; Holiday in the Village and The Woodstock Film Festival.

Markertek is also a proud sponsor of Saugerties Little League, NFL Flag Football, SAA Youth Basketball, Saugerties Youth Hockey along with the Kiwanis Club and the Knights of Columbus. Markertek’s employees get directly involved in efforts like HatsGiving, a program that collects clean hats for pediatric cancer patients and the Boys & Girls Club of Saugerties’ Gifts of Warmth & Toys for the Holidays and Back-to-School Backpacks programs.

When Mark Braunstein passed in 2021, the company established a college scholarship fund in his name for students interested in video and film production at the local Saugerties Senior High School. With plans to contribute each year, the fund has already supported three local students.

“With the Markertek Foundation, Mark set up a model that builds relationships and greatly magnifies the support of everyone we work with, which benefits many in need in our community,” says DeCelle.

Adds Lieske, “Mark believed that ‘energy begets energy’. Though he is gone, the energy he embodied to help is still circulating, inspiring us to continue and expand upon the work he started.”

If you’d like to support the Markertek Open Charitable Golf Tournament, please follow this link to donate.

Markertek Open Charitable Golf Tournament
Saturday, July 13th at 12 pm
Wiltwyck Golf Club | @wiltwyckgolfclub

For more information, click here.

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Contributing writer Sal Cataldi is a musician, writer and former publicist living in Saugerties NY.
Photos courtesy of Markertek