Hamptons padel fundraiser raises $250,000 for animal welfare causes

The Brady Hunter Foundation’s Padel for a Purpose fundraiser brought in $250,000 in the Hamptons, turning a celebrity pro-am into a six-figure night for animal welfare. The event was staged at Brisas in East Hampton on Saturday, August 23, with adoptable dogs on hand as the club leaned into padel’s blend of sport, status and social energy.

Attendees tied to the event included Jackie Botehlo, Josh Fox and Richie Hosein, names that fit the kind of crossover crowd padel has been drawing in the United States. The fundraiser also used raffle prizes to widen the appeal, including a Virgin Voyages cruise and a private charter for six from Luxury Day Charters, the kind of incentives that help a club event feel closer to a summer benefit than a standard tournament.

Melissa Molomo said the event raised over $250,000 for The Brady Hunter Foundation, which supports animal welfare, underserved children, food insecurity initiatives, wildlife conservation and the Southampton Animal Shelter. That broader mission gave the fundraiser a wider reach than a single-issue donation drive, but animal welfare remained the centerpiece as the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation brought adoptable dogs into the mix.

The Hamptons setting did a lot of work here. East Hampton has long been a market where sport, philanthropy and networking overlap, and padel fits naturally into that environment because it is easy to package as a pro-am, easy to dress up for guests and easy for newcomers to understand. In this case, the court became the hook that brought together donors, social fixtures and animal rescue advocates, all inside one of the country’s most visible summer enclaves.

The event also points to a larger pattern for the sport. The Brady Hunter Foundation has been building around padel as a charity platform, and it has also promoted a Miami event at Reserve Padel Miami for Feb. 21, 2026. That suggests a broader playbook is taking shape: use padel’s accessibility and upscale image to create fundraisers that can travel from the Hamptons to Miami while keeping the same formula of celebrity draw, club atmosphere and cause-driven giving.