USTA Donates 12,000 Metal Tops from Tennis Ball Cans to Ronald McDonald House

The USTA Employee Green Committee visited the Ronald McDonald House of the Greater Hudson Valley on the campus of Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., to donate 12,000 metal tops taken from tennis ball cans exclusively collected during the 2019 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 nearby 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 asked for a donation of $15 per night, although it is estimated that it costs $219 per night to accommodate each family. No family is ever turned away due to inability to pay.

Collected by umpires throughout the tournament, the USTA’s donation of 12,000 tennis can lids, totaling approximately 100 lbs., will help cover a family's stay for over a week at the Ronald McDonald House.

In 2018, over 2.2 million pull tabs were collected which covered the cost for over 42 room nights.

The USTA Employee Green Committee is one of the longest-standing Employee Resource Groups at the US 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. 

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 655,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, one of the highest-attended annual sporting events in the world, and launched the US Open Series, linking seven summer WTA and ATP World Tour tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships in addition to supporting tennis and education programs nationwide to benefit under-resourced youth through the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. For more information about the USTA, go to USTA.com or follow the official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.