VERO BEACH, Fla. — A Vero Beach table tennis club is on the verge of closing its doors, and the community is rallying to keep it open.
Tyson McCoy, owner of the Vero Beach Table Tennis Club, said the club is facing closure due to unpaid rent and utilities, combined with financial difficulties during the pandemic.
WATCH BELOW: Vero Beach table tennis club at risk of closing its doors
"The first four years here, it's been a rough battle," McCoy said.
McCoy said he worries about what closure would mean for his members and others who rely on the club.
"A lot of the club members here, I don't think they would know what to do to fill in that time if this club were to disappear," McCoy said. "They might have to stop playing or they're going to have to travel long distances to play."
Member Daniel Freedman has been coming to the club for 3 years and said keeping it open is a priority.
"We have to do whatever we can to make sure that this club stays open," Freedman said.
Freedman said the club's importance to him goes beyond the sport.
"I think I might move. You know, it's like that important a thing for me in Vero Beach is having this club," Freedman said.
Fellow member Cielo Galman said the club has built something rare.
"Table tennis has a very strong social culture," Galman said. "They're like a second family to me."
McCoy created a GoFundMe to help support the club. The community has already donated $2,400.
"I'm not much of a crier, but it definitely brings a tear to my eye that we have so many supporters that feel about this club the way that I do," McCoy said.
Freedman said he believes other members feel the same way.
"I think they're all a lot of them are in the same boat as me," Freedman said. "It truly means the world to me."
Galman said she hopes the support is enough.
"It would be nice to be able to keep this," Galman said.
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