Cancer effects all of us, whether directly or indirectly, and has an impact on the lives of the people around us. Every day, forty three children are diagnosed with pediatric cancer and every day forty three sets of parents are devastated by this news. Two friends named Zach and Brian from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota set out to bring a few smiles, and knit beanies, to kids battling childhood cancer.

"Brian and I founded Love Your Melon while we were sophomores in college. We wanted to help those in need so we created 400 hats and kicked off our buy one, give one program. In December, 2012, we went on our first hospital donation event. Seeing the smiles we created by giving the kids Love Your Melon hats and spending time with them was an incredible experience. We were inspired to keep making our hats." -Zach

Just two years later, Love Your Melon set off on two nationwide tours and took its mission with it. After meeting with college campuses around the world, the Love Your Melon Campus Crew Program began. Now, there are over 11,000 students participating at 740 different universities. The campus crews raise awareness of the fast growing organization on their individual campuses, and promote buying the LYM products or donating for the cause. When the crews reach enough "credits", which is obtained by having a customer select the individual campus during the online checkout process, they receive a welcome package which includes materials to kickstart the awareness on campus. Crews who excel in promoting the LYM products and receiving credits are also sent a "superhero" package where the crew gets capes and masks so that they can dress up and spend the day with a child who is battling cancer and is, in fact, a "superhero."

Soon after Love Your Melon reached their goal of donating 45,000 hats to children battling cancer, they set out to donate over 1 million dollars to childhood cancer research. To date, Love Your Melon has donated over 1.1 million dollars to research and 75,000 hats to children in the midst of their fight, and continue to support and donate every day since then. Along with the buy one, give one beanie campaign, as of this past April, Love Your Melon donates fifty percent of all their nets proceeds to the fight against childhood cancer.

Maybe its your mom or the neighbor down the street, but cancer effects all of us directly or indirectly. So, consider supporting the LYM cause, and if you're reading this, consider checking Messiah College Campus Crew during your online checkout.