Hamptons Hound: From Friendship to Fighting Cancer

Founded in May 2021, Hamptons Hound blends a passion for pets and finding a cure for childhood cancer with a heartwarming – and paw-warming – story.

Two high school friends, Ariana Zajac and Ella Gershon, had their entrepreneurial minds sparked by making hand-crafted all-natural dog treats and a desire to help in the fight to achieve a world without cancer.

Hamptons Hound is a story of empathy, as the two young students wanted money to donate to help their close friend, Scarlett, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, which required that she receive treatment for three years.

During the pandemic, Zajac and Gershon’s families moved from New York City to the Hamptons and stayed together for safety and support.

During that time, Zajac was asked to bake 2,000 dog treats for a local veterinarian’s promotion. She and Gershon baked and packaged all of the treats, which inspired them to create the Hamptons Hound business, with an added focus on aiding pediatric cancer research via charitable donations.

The combination of their charity work and their love for dogs made Hamptons Hound a perfect project. Zajac explains, “We’ve always been dog people.” So they combined their love of dogs with their desire to help people like their friend Scarlet.

Today, 15% of net profits from Hamptons Hound are donated to The Scarlett Fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering, which is focused on research and treatment for pediatric cancer. More than $30,000 has been donated to the fund.

In addition, the two have served on the Memorial Sloan Kettering Student Board for the past six years.

“Memorial Sloan Kettering has always been near and dear to our hearts,” Gershon said.

The money donated to The Scarlett Fund is used to continue research on novel targeted treatments. The two have been quite successful in raising funds to fight cancer, and their friend Scarlett is now cancer-free.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center continues its fight against cancer with care teams that provide personalized care to people with cancer and intensive research on cancer and cancer treatments.

Zajac and Gershon’s strong passion for dogs has driven them to want to provide quality, flavor and freshness with three different flavored treats for sale: chicken liver, beef liver and lamb.

While they haven’t looked into expanding by making treats and food for other animals, they have looked into making new flavors for dogs.

Zajac and Gershon are committed to growing their business while making a positive impact.

Hamptons Hound has achieved great success thus far, with its dog treats now sold in 12 different stores in New York City and across the Hamptons.