Love Your Melon is an organization that was founded by two University of St. Thomas students for an entrepreneurship class. The foundation was created on a simple concept: to put a hat on the head of every child in America who was battling cancer.
Since its foundation in 2012, Love Your Melon has taken two nationwide tours to spread its mission and to establish a group of Love Your Melon Ambassadors. These individuals are college students who take on the responsibility of spreading the organization's message within individual campuses and communities. More than 225 different schools are involved with Love Your Melon, the most recent being Quinnipiac. Junior Brianna Layton started Quinnipiac's campus crew last semester and is currently working towards having QU's crew established as an official crew, a title that comes with selling 100 items.
Layton doesn't do all of the work on her own, however. She serves as the Crew Captain for a group of 20 students, who meet biweekly to discuss ways to sell products. Beanies, caps, shirts, and other Love Your Melon gear are sold online, the sales of which go towards purchasing hats for children undergoing cancer treatment. If potential supporters (like you!) have any questions, Brianna Layton is always more than happy to answer them, along with any of the other Campus Crew members; feel free to send an email and you'll be sure to get a quick response!
While the products may be more expensive than your average beanie or clothing item, you are actually purchasing two: one for yourself and one for a childhood cancer patient. Beyond that, you are raising awareness; people as about the Love Your Melon logo on your shirt and you can teach them about the organization and how much it means to child cancer patients to have these hats hand delivered to them by strangers from an organization who genuinely care about them and are hoping everyday for their success! The children that Love Your Melon supports are our superheroes and our goal is to let them know that we are thinking about them and that they are not alone in the battle that they are fighting against their own supervillain: cancer.
For individuals that are interested in donating to Quinnipiac's Love Your Melon Crew, you can shop online at www.loveyourmelon.com. Make sure to select Quinnipiac University at checkout in order to support our crew!
In the meantime, keep reading to meet your Campus Crew!
Brianna Layton
Major: Public Relations
Year: Junior
Position: Crew Captain
Why she joined LYM: "I got involved with Love Your Melon because I fell in love with their hands-on approach to making a child's treatment process just a little bit more positive. These children fight a horrible battle every single day and if we have the opportunity to give them just a little more hope or one little smile, then we should do everything we can to help our superheroes and show them that they're not in this fight alone!"
Haley Abbott
Major: Biology/Secondary Education
Year: Junior
Position: Crew Vice Captain
Why she joined LYM: "I joined the LYM crew because I completely fell in love with their mission. When Brianna first approached me about this amazing foundation I immediately wanted to jump right in and do my part to help give comfort to the unbelievably strong children and their families."
Lisa Bluestein
Major: Interactive Digital Design
Minor: Marketing
Year: Junior
Position: PR Manager
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because I really liked their mission, which is to end childhood cancer. It's a great feeling knowing you can make a difference for a child in need and seeing them so happy in their LYM gear is priceless."
Danielle Mackey
Major: Nursing
Minor: Spanish
Year: Junior
Position: Secretary
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because I love children! I want to pursue a career in pediatric oncology and I think this is an awesome cause to raise awareness."
Kaitlyn Huber
Major: Occupational Therapy
Minor: Spanish
Year: Junior
Position: Temporary PR Manager
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because cancer has affected so many people that I know and love. Until we find a cure, giving every child a hat in order to give them hope and make them smile is crucial. LYM makes this possible and I'm honored to be a part of it.
Emma Roache
Major: Entrepreneurship
Year: Junior
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because I have a huge passion for helping kids, especially those who are fighting medical battles. Since cancer has personally affected my family, LYM allows me to put a smile on the face of a kid in need.
Kirby Paulson
Major: Journalism
Year: Freshman
Why he joined LYM: "I joined LYM because cancer has affected many special people in my life. No child, or person for that matter, deserves to go through something like cancer. There's nothing quite like being able to share a smile and make things that much better."
Lily Mercer
Major: Biology
Year: Freshman
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because I want to be a pediatric nurse practitioner! And I love being able to brighten kids' days!"
Jordan Weiss
Major: Athletic Training/Physical Therapy
Year: Sophomore
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because cancer has affected me in many ways and I want every child to feel special even when they are going through something as difficult as cancer."
Alexandra DiGiacomo
Major: Occupational Therapy
Year: Junior
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because I think that it is such a phenomenal program that helps support childhood cancer. It is so important to spread awareness, advocate for, and give these individuals battling this terrible disease the recognition they deserve. Being a part of LYM and even by just supporting LYM means that you're helping improve the quality of these children's lives one beanie at a time and helping fund research one day at a time.
Sarah Theriault
Major: Nursing
Year: Junior
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because I want to support children's cancer. It affected me all throughout high school and I think it is a great organization I would love to give back to."
Amy Lafleur
Major: Health Science Studies
Year: Sophomore
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because I want to be a pediatric nurse, and more specifically, work with children who are battling cancer. I believe that no child should have to suffer through cancer treatment and it is important to let them know that they're not alone in this fight and others are there to give them support, hope, and faith through it all.
Kelsey McDonough
Major: Athletic Training/Physical Therapy
Year: Sophomore
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LY< because many of my loved ones have had cancer. I know while going through treatment that every little thing can make someone's day. Through LYM we are able to do that for children going through cancer treatment and know we are always thinking about them!"
Christy Dzubay
Major: English
Minor: Psychology
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because I have always loved working with children and want to be an elementary school teacher. Cancer has affected my family members in their adult years, so I have seen the struggle that they are going through. To think that children are going through something so terrible makes me want to do all that I can to help them, so I wanted to get involved with LYM in order to have the opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of children in whatever way I can."
Tatyana Youssef
Major: Journalism
Year: Sophomore
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because why not? The cause was amazing and the things they sell are awesome!"
Caitlin Selva
Major: Physical Therapy 3+3 Program
Year: Senior
Why she joined LYM: "I joined LYM because I really loved their mission to help as many children battling cancer as they can. I think it is a great cause and really wanted to be a part of the crew once I learned about everything that they do."
Brandon Green
Major: Health Sciences (DPT)
Year: Sophomore
Why he joined LYM: "I joined LYM because cancer is something that has been seemingly ubiquitous all throughtout my life and I strongly believe that no child should ever have to endure a battlethat many grown men and women struggle to win every day."
Ryan Schiferl
Major: Athletic Training
Year: Sophomore
Why he joined LYM: "I joined LYM to help spread awareness of cancer, not because I've been affected by someone who has cancer, but because I don't want anyone who has or hasn't been affected to be affected by it again."
Chris Diaz
Major: Nursing
Year: Junior
Why he joined LYM: "I joined LYM becauase as a nursing major, I take it as a priority to help these kids in need. No child deserves to have to face the obstacles that they do, and if a simple article of clothing can make them smile, I'm more than happy to provide them with that!"
