USTA Donates 7,000 Tennis Ball Can Tops to Ronald McDonald House

The USTA Employee Green Committee recently visited the Ronald McDonald House of the Greater Hudson Valley (RMHGHV) on the campus of Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., to donate 7,000 metal tops taken from tennis ball cans exclusively collected during the 2021 US Open. Ronald McDonald House of the Greater Hudson Valley gives families with critically ill and traumatically injured children the gift of togetherness and keeps them close to the care and resources they need. The House is a place where families can enjoy the comforts of home, while still being near their child. Meals, laundry and respite services are provided for the families.

The Ronald McDonald House Pull Tab Collection Program generates funds to help underwrite the cost of a night’s stay for families. Pull tabs are collected by various organizations and brought to the House where staff and volunteers bring them to a local recycling center where they are exchanged for money at the current market value.

The House has 12 bedrooms that are filled to capacity almost every night. Families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of the Greater Hudson Valley are never charged for services they receive. It is estimated that the actual cost to RMH per family per night is $183 and therefore, there is a suggested family contribution of $15 per night. However, no family is ever turned away due to inability to pay.

Collected by umpires throughout the tournament, since 2016, the USTA has collected and donated nearly 70,000 tennis can lids to the Pull Tab Collection Program, helping to cover the cost of nearly one month’s stay for a family at RMHGHV.

The USTA Employee Green Committee is one of the longest-standing Employee Resource Groups at the U.S. Tennis Association. With approximately 15 members working across different departments and offices at the USTA, the Employee Green Committee promotes and develops an environmentally-friendly workplace at the USTA National Offices in White Plains, Queens, and Orlando. The Committee also assists local organizations and farms to give back to the community.

http://www.rmhghv.org