by MEGAN DREHER, Staff Writer & AUGUST KISSEL, Staff Writer
With the weather getting colder, it’s important to stay bundled up while walking around campus. One way to do so is by sporting Love Your Melon apparel, a brand that has become close to many Manhattan College students’ hearts and supports a good cause.
Love Your Melon is a nonprofit organization that has supported childhood cancer by giving a hat to every child patient in America and donates their profits to pediatric cancer research through two main organizations, CureSearch and Pinky Swear Foundation.
The company, founded by two college students, began with the mission to put a hat on the head of every child battling cancer across the country. This message spread to other college students who wanted to get involved, and since, the Campus Crew Program has grown to over 11,000 students and 740 colleges, including MC.
During the past two semesters, Love Your Melon has taken the MC campus by storm. Talia Price is responsible for bringing LYM to campus and is the captain of the LYM crew.
“Me and two other girls had separately reached out to Love Your Melon with all of the meanings to start it, and they [the company] linked us together,” said Price.
Originally, the girls spread the invitation to join to their teammates, so the crew is athlete based. This year they have made an effort to spread the invitation to all MC students.
“I initially joined because it’s personal to me and I found that by spreading the mission of Love Your Melon, we could raise awareness for pediatric cancer patients, inevitably moving one step in the right direction,” said freshman crew member Zoe Nikolopoulos.
Another member, Megan Lepore, had a different reason for her involvement: “I’m an allied health major so I really like to be involved with clubs that go out of their way to help people medically, and that’s why I wanted to get involved.”
The MC Love Your Melon crew works to build a themed display once a month. September was gold month and the crew designed a rainbow surrounded by gold coins that provided facts about pediatric cancer and it’s prominence in society.
October was focused around a family sponsor and the crew handed out blue and pink ribbons to show their support for a girl who was recently re-diagnosed with Leukemia and her family. The tables are either located outside of Thomas Hall or in the Kelly Commons next to Starbucks.
“The fact that every time you wear a hat or wear one of the products, it’s on your mind. It’s something small that can matter to a college student,” said Price.
The crew is always actively trying to get students to support the Love Your Melon cause. An MC student can do so by purchasing any LYM apparel on their website, http://www.loveyourmelon.com, and selecting Manhattan College at checkout.
By doing this, the crew gains more points and this gives them more opportunities to raise awareness. Points help to design more elaborate tables and sponsor more families. If the crew gains enough points, then it could also provide them with the opportunity to go to distribute the hats to hospitals themselves, which according to Price is “the ultimate goal.”