The family of a former Jim Thorpe man who died in 2016 after a lengthy battle with opioid addiction presented a $13,500 donation to Carbon County officials Wednesday morning for use by its drug treatment court.

After Matthew Reabold, 27, passed away, his father William “Butch” Reabold and other family members helped establish a memorial fund to assist others battling the same issues.

Butch, along with his daughter Nicole Reabold-McGinley, witnessed the treatment court in action for the first time and have no doubt that had the program been around before Matthew died, he could have benefited from it.

“My brother didn’t really have anywhere he could go for help,” Nicole said. “He was either put into prison or challenging rehabilitation situations. We are trying to help people not go through that. We want them to successfully regain their life instead of continuing the drug use that may end in their death. We wish this was around when Matthew was struggling.”

Launched in 2019, the drug treatment court aims to address the growing number of substance addicted/abusing people involved in the criminal justice system.

“What we try to do is break the cycle of addiction so our participants can go on and become productive members of society and their lives aren’t cut short by addiction,” Carbon County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Matika, who oversees the program, said. “We’re grateful for the financial support that helps us assist these participants in maintaining a sober lifestyle and moving on to become productive citizens.”

A 2008 graduate of Jim Thorpe High School, Matthew was an avid golfer before his passing. He was a two-time Olympian golf most valuable player and later teed it up for Keystone College.

After his death, Matthew’s family held several memorial golf tournaments to raise money for the foundation, which generated the funds for Wednesday’s donation.

“This program is just such a benefit for people who were in Matthew’s position and we felt it very worthwhile to have the money go here,” Nicole said. “It’s so important that we help people like my brother and have trained people who know what to do instead of sending someone to jail or probation right away. We want to help people get better before they get worse.”

Matthew’s mother, Karen Figura, couldn’t be in attendance Wednesday but Nicole said the donation meant a great deal to her as well.

The money will go in a restricted budget line item at the county to be used only for drug treatment court purposes.