Mattigan Kelly ’18 hosted the 12th annual Tennis Fun Fest at the Hinsdale Raquet Club on Aug. 12. The Fun Fest is a tennis event organized to fundraise money for the Treasure Chest foundation. With over 125 people in attendance, the annual fundraiser was deemed a success.

“I love to help people and I love to play tennis so I thought that this was the perfect way to combine those two passions,” Mattigan said.

The event initially started 12 years ago by Kelly’s brother, Crofton Kelly, who graduated from St. Ignatius in 2015. At the time however, the proceeds went to American Red Cross to help with disaster relief.

“The first fundraiser came right after Hurricane Katrina back in 2005,” Crofton said. “I was only 8, but it was easy to understand that people in New Orleans needed basic things.

Two years later and every summer after that, the money raised by the event would be donated instead to the Treasure Chest foundation. The Treasure Chest foundation supplies local hospitals with toys for cancer patients after treatments.

“A family friend recommended that I look into the Treasure Chest, because the toys that their son got from the chest, while inexpensive, made it a lot easier for their whole family to deal with his cancer,” Crofton said.

Now for the past two years, his younger sister, Mattigan Kelly, has taken over the event. This past year though proved to be different.  This year $9,200 was raised by the event, which was a record number, Mattigan said. This is partly credited to the newest improvement of the fundraiser: an online auction. From the auction, over $1,300 was raised.

“What I did was sold things like four autographed blackhawks jerseys, two signed cubs photos and just other higher end items,” Mattigan said. ” The reason I did it was I was thinking of ways to change the event, or to make it more my own.”

For Mattigan though, the event is a major responsibility. Working throughout the summer, she spent hours of her own time organizing the event. Not only would she have to coordinate with Treasure Chest and Hinsdale Raquet club to find a date, tennis pros to control the courts, but also she would have to advertise the event as much as possible.

“The main thing for me to do is get people there,” Mattigan said. “There is no event and no money for the foundation if there aren’t people there.”

As the entrance fee was $20, getting participants to the event makes all of the difference in raising money for Treasure chest. Bridget Shannon ’18 was one of the many participants of the event as she plays varsity tennis for LT.

“There was a huge turnout of all ages, and I saw so many LT kids,” Shannon said. “That really proved the strength of the community, and just how awesome Mattigan is.”

On top of the fundraising with the auction, raffles, and entrance fee, there is more to the event. With all age groups participating at all skill levels, it balances fun with tennis. In fact, things can get a bit competitive.

“You would hit and play three points, and if you won you would go to the other side,” Shannon said. “So it was essentially a queen of the courts game.”

Overall, Mattigan and others were very satisfied with the fundraiser turnout.  In terms of the future, she hopes to continue running the event and raising money for Treasure Chest. It is an impact on her life amongst so many others.

“She really cares about the cause and has a real talent for bringing people together. I’m so proud of all she’s done to improve the event and give back to Treasure Chest,” Crofton said