Here at Padel Nation we generally try to highlight the positive direction padel is taking across the U.S. rather than the negative direction so many other things are taking across our country and the world at large….
And today we get to highlight a positive (yet seemingly overlooked) direction that U.S. padel is taking to help a series of very negative and completely devastating events that happened in Venezuela just a little over a month ago — namely, two powerful 7.0+ earthquakes that shook the South American country, damaging or destroying an estimated 850+ buildings, injuring over 16,000+ people, and taking the lives of another 5,000+ according to recent tallies.
Granted, there have certainly been no shortage of worthy organizations raising money to help the Venezuelan recovery efforts in the aftermath of this catastrophe, including:
But one that has particularly caught my attention is one from LA-based Padel Up — which we’ve covered several times before for various events and initiatives and which, this Wednesday, July 22, will be hosting a “Rally for Venezuela” event to raise money for recovery efforts.
In fact, in the weeks following the Venezuela devastation, while so many others were focused on hype surrounding the World Cup, the Taylor Swift / Travis Kelce nuptials, and the U.S.’s 250th birthday, I saw an Instagram post from Padel Up stating:
If you’ve ever been to Padel Up, you know that Venezuela is a huge part of our community. Our coaches, staff and clients represent this beautiful nation proudly.
It’s been two weeks since an earthquake destroyed Venezuela and took so many precious lives. We can’t forget what has happened and must continue to drive support for Venezuela.
Padel Up is committed to raising funds to send to Venezuela. If you’d like to participate, you can find our GoFundMe link in our bio.
We will be announcing an event dedicated to Venezuela support shortly so please stay tuned. Padel Up is also committing 100% of our revenue from our weekly Link Up events every Friday this July.
Shortly thereafter, I came across this follow up, officially announcing the “Rally for Venezuela” event that will take place the day after tomorrow:
On June 24, powerful earthquakes changed the lives of thousands of families across Venezuela.
As a community, we believe that even small actions can make a meaningful impact.
Join us for Rally for Venezuela, an evening where we come together through padel, food, music, and community to raise funds for earthquake relief efforts.
Padel Up Culver City
Wednesday, July 22 / 6:00 PM – 9:00 PMCan’t make it? You can still support by donating through the GoFundMe in our bio. Every contribution helps.
Thank you to all of our partners and everyone helping make this possible.
Together, we rally for Venezuela. 🇻🇪❤️
And, sadly to me, while dozens of AI-generated padel-related social media posts routinely garner hundreds, if not thousands, of likes and 🔥🔥🔥 responses, this very worthy cause (so far) seems to have fallen on deaf ears…
What’s more, the GoFundMe they’ve set up is still about 90% short of its goal, which to me is a bit disheartening given that so many people in the U.S. don’t think twice about dropping hundreds of dollars per hour to play padel.
But I’m in for $250, whatever that’s worth — and I trust that at least a few of you who read this will contribute as little or as much as you can, too (and, perhaps more importantly, pass this along to your friends, as well, whether they play padel or not).
Plus, it seems that if anyone can pull off a big, meaningful padel event, it’s Padel Up — so hopefully we can all band together and show everyone what the U.S. padel community is really all about!
Donate to "Rally for Venezuela" now
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Oh, and one other thing… my brand-new 352-page padel book was just released this week. So, if you enjoy the work I’m doing in the U.S. padel space, you can support me by ordering a copy (or two!) online at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Or if you’re a club owner and you’d want to carry a handful of copies in your pro shop for “padel curious” people who are interested in trying the sport out but don’t know quite where to start, let me know and I can connect you with my publisher’s wholesale department.
Many thanks in advance!
