Three years ago, two sophomores at University of St. Thomas had an idea. What if, they thought, we could put a hat on every child battling cancer?
And three years later, that dream is coming true. “Love Your Melon” is an organization that was started by two sophomores in their entrepreneurship class, and it’s effect is growing rapidly. The original idea behind this organization is for every “Love Your Melon” hat sold, one goes to a child battling cancer.
Today, “Love Your Melon” has exceeded their goal and has now partnered with The Pinky Swear Foundation, which provides immediate support for children battling cancer, and CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, which raises funds for research to one day eradicate this disease.
“Love Your Melon” has lots of thick knit hats – the perfect comfort for a cancer patient’s head. They come in different styles and colors – a beanie or cuffed hat, numerous solid colors, and – my personal favorite – the speckled ones that are a mixture of different colors. Over the years, the organization has expanded to selling baseball caps, tank tops and shirts. The knit hats are made close by in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Minnesota Knitting Mills, and the leather patches that are on the front of the beanies are made in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Gotham Textile.
For me, “Love Your Melon” has had a very personal and strong impact. When I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last fall, my family and friends flooded me with hats, and among them was my first “Love Your Melon” hat. As I went through treatment, I received four more in the mail from friends and family that wanted to let me know they were thinking of me. And now, today, I still have all of them and can wear them and be reminded of the support, warmth and love that surrounds me during difficult times. It truly is comforting, and I only hope a child cancer patient somewhere out there can open that package and be comforted by the fact that someone, somewhere, is rooting for them and providing them strength and comfort throughout their difficult journey.
If you want to join this mission for cures and comfort, visit loveyourmelon.com to look at the different hats available! Also, you should know that St. Olaf has our very own “Love Your Melon” Crew! If you like the St. Olaf “Love Your Melon” Crew’s Facebook page, you can see new Love Your Melon hat release updates, participate in contests for a hat and learn about our crew members and cancer survivor’s stories.
It’s amazing what can happen when we all join up against a cause that we have been fighting for a long time. Join the fight and help us end childhood cancer once and for all. <3
~Bridget~
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