Match Point Tennis donates $1,650 to Valley View’s resident fund

Match Point Tennis raised $1,650 for the Valley View Center for Nursing Care and Rehabilitation’s Resident Fund through the tournament/fund raiser it hosted on Saturday, Jan. 9, at its facility in Goshen.

“On behalf of Valley View’s residents and staff, I extend our gratitude to Match Point Tennis for their support and generous contribution,” Valley View administrator Laurence LaDue said. “This money will be deposited into the Valley View Resident Fund and will be used towards activities and events for our residents. We are all appreciative to Match Point for thinking of Valley View and our residents.”

Warwick resident, 16-year-old Jackie Arbogast, a junior player at Match Point and a member of the United States Tennis Association’s Eastern Board, came up with the idea for the benefit tournament. She organized the event with the help of Match Point players Maeve Cassidy, who attends Monroe-Woodbury High School, and Samantha Killin, a Warwick student.

Arbogast was inspired by her grandfather, Ken Gormley, who died in a nursing home over the summer. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arbogast said her family could not visit him for the last six months of his life.

Match Point’s owner, Ari Roberts, who is also a tennis pro, donated the court time for the tournament.

“For me, it was about raising awareness about the plight of nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Arbogast, a junior at Academy of the Holy Angels in Demarest, N.J. “It was fun and meaningful and gave us all an opportunity to do something they love for a good cause. It was nice to benefit Valley View because they are local, and it felt good to do something right here in Goshen.”