From crawfish boils and golf tournaments to chili cook-offs and pickleball, The Hat Club knows how to make a difference while having a good time. With their distinct hats and big hearts, the men of this Little Rock-based social club have donated nearly $1 million to more than 30 local charities.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we take the impact seriously,” says Jake Logan, president of The Hat Club. “At the end of the day, it’s a group of guys who figured out that you can do a lot of good when you combine community, consistency and a little bit of creativity.”
It all began in 2010 with an unexpected discovery. A group of friends was hanging out at a grandfather’s house when they stumbled upon a collection of hats they would never forget.
“The Hat Club comes from our original founders getting together with friends and putting on old hats found in one of their family's homes,” says Alex Winans, the club’s marketing vice president. “Eventually, over time, they wanted to do something more with this social club between friends and figure out how to put this same energy into giving back to the community.”
Confident they could put the fun in fundraising, the members — or hat fellers — hosted the first of many crawfish boils. And since then, the club has never been short of creative ways to serve its community.
“The Hat Club is known for turning fundraising into something people genuinely look forward to, and that’s where we really stand out,” Alex says.
Though hat fellers often wear their custom caps to events, the club’s name also nods to the tradition of “passing the hat,” or raising money for charity.
“Because we focus on supporting local organizations, we get to see the tangible differences that we’ve helped make,” Jake says. “As the group continues to grow, we are excited about continuing to spread our support through the community.”
During the iconic Chili Fights in the Heights, teams bring the heat to Kavanaugh Boulevard and benefit the Arkansas Foodbank.
“It’s part street festival, part competition, part community reunion,” Alex says. “You’ve got costumes, live music, families and a whole lot of chili.”
There’s also the annual Crawfish Salute, packed with live music and all-you-can-eat crawfish, which raised almost $40,000 for the UAMS Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in 2024.
“When families, doctors, nurses and other staff connected to the UAMS come out to Crawfish Salute, you hear about incredibly difficult times in people’s lives and meet the people who support the unit and realize that a ‘fun event’ actually played a small role in their child’s care,” Alex says.
Combining sports and philanthropy, Pickleball with a Purpose helps charities for women and children. In partnership with the Junior League of Little Rock, more than 20 teams competed in the 2025 inaugural tournament and raised $8,000.
“There’s nothing better than seeing something fun turn into something meaningful,” Jake says.
Among its growing roster of signature events, The Hat Club Classic, held at the Chenal Country Club, is a premier golf tournament supporting Project Zero, an organization focused on reducing the number of children in foster care.
Jake says, “Every sponsor, every attendee, every volunteer becomes part of the mission. The goal has never been to keep it small or exclusive. It’s to keep expanding the impact.
“We aren’t able to host big events for every worthy organization, but we are always looking for ways to continue to support more groups or at least connect our members with other charitable organizations they may have never heard about.”
For more information or to apply, visit hatclublr.com.