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USTA Employee Green Committee Donates 12,000 Ball Can Tops

October 10, 2019

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., October 3, 2019 – 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., yesterday 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.