On a mission to improve the lives of children battling cancer since Oct. 22, 2012, Love Your Melon began with the simple idea of putting a hat on every child battling cancer in America.
It all started in an entrepreneurship class at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Two college sophomores, Zach and Brian, started the mission of Love Your Melon wanting to help those in need. Little did they know, the launch of one beanie would bring in the launch of thousands more. For every beanie bought at loveyourmelon.com, one beanie is given to a child battling cancer.
In 2014, Love Your Melon went on a nationwide tour to spread the word of their mission to help children battling cancer. The tour came with much success, introducing the Love Your Melon Ambassadors Campaign with over 9,000 college students at 575 different schools signed on as ambassadors to promote and sell hats within their local community. Recently, Love Your Melon became partners with CureSearch and The Pinky Swear Foundation, becoming more involved in the research end of finding a cure. Since Love Your Melon has just partnered with these two organizations, they are introducing a new model to replace the buy one, give one program this year. Now 50 percent net proceeds of a product sold will be donated to the two foundations.
Love Your Melon ambassadors are college students who want to make a difference. How it works: an ambassador (or two) can organize a Love Your Melon Campus Crew club at their school. They are allowed to recruit 20 representatives from their university to help spread the word among students and faculty. We have our very own Love Your Melon Campus Crew here at Stockton. With every item bought under the Stockton name during check out, we get a point towards our Crew. What do these points mean?
When we reach 50 points, we receive a promotional package from which we hand out free merchandise to the community. But here is the cool part: when we hit 100 points, we receive superhero costumes and free beanies! So now, we can dress as superheroes and do a household visit, which is a visit to the home of a child with cancer, and give the child and their family the beanies. The more points a campus crew accumulates, the more household and hospital visits they can do! Once you hit the mother load of points, you can take a child with cancer on an adventure, such as a helicopter or plane ride. How cool!
Now, with such a huge expansion, Love Your Melon has learned to adapt to the great demands of their items. There have been new item launches every Monday, and every launch ends with a sell out. Long sleeve shirts, baseball caps, scarves, mugs and, of course, beanies are being sold weekly, and Love Your Melon has been able to donate over thousands of beanies to children with cancer.
Why are college students so fond of Love Your Melon? Its not just the fashionable beanies, but the meaning behind it all. The difference a single item could do for a child in need is amazing. The drive to help others and to pursue it, is the greatest gift a person could have. Love your Melon is unique compared to other organizations that raise awareness and funds for children with cancer. It has the sense of familiarity for college students because it was started by college students.
Stay up to date on new launch times at loveyourmelon.com. Most importantly, don't forget to select Stockton University at checkout! For updates on sale items follow Stockton University Love Your Melon Campus Crew on Facebook and @StocktonLYMCrew on Instagram.
