As temperatures in Western PA drop into the single digits and snow falls from the sky eight inches at a time, students all over SRU are trying to keep warm. SRU Love Your Melon (LYM) plans on helping students keep warm.
Love Your Melon is an apparel brand run by college students across the country on a mission to give a hat to every child battling cancer in America.
Senior resort, recreation and hospitality management major, HOPE Peer Educator and SRU LYM Campus Crew member Beth Dulak, said LYM is an organization that brings joy into the lives of families that are having a rough time.
Every time someone purchases a hat, Love Your Melon gives another hat to a child battling cancer.
“Their main purpose is to bring a smile to each and every child going through a tough time,” Dulak said.
Last semester, junior public relations major, Phi Sigma Sigma tribune and SRU LYM President Kelsey Reed said she heard about Love Your Melon from a friend, who was a representative for Headbands of Hope, which is a similar organization to LYM. Reed said the two foundations had a partnership, and Reed discovered that many of the schools surrounding SRU had Love Your Melon Campus Crews while The Rock did not.
Reed applied online to become an ambassador and now the SRU LYM Campus Crew has 17 members, has sold over 160 hats and is currently working on an application and waitlist process for the crew itself.
Reed plans to hold promotional events on campus to raise awareness about the organization and when new beanie releases happen.
Reed said one event that SRU LYM will have coming up is a free hot chocolate bar where they will be giving out free hot chocolate, wristbands and stickers.
Grove City College’s Campus Crew and SRU Campus Crew are also planning on teaming up for a big event sometime soon, Reed said. She said having both schools represented at this event will really boost awareness.
Although the Love Your Melon foundation was originally meant for children battling pediatric cancer, Reed said she’s working on getting a donated hat for the SGA Bookstore employee who’s recently been diagnosed with cancer, Penny Flowers. Reed said that by doing this, she wants to remind Flowers that “we all care about her, and we’re all fighting for her.”
As the SRU LYM Campus Crew is credited for more and more sales, they are given more chances to do good things in the community. The Crew is currently planning a Superhero Home Visit for a child in the community; a few members of the Crew will dress as superheroes and go to the child’s home to play games. If the Crew is credited with enough sales, they have the ability to make a hospital visit as well.
“We hope to see the SRU community help us change the lives of families and hopefully give them something to smile about,” Dulak said.
Students can buy beanies online at loveyourmelon.com. The beanies are made in the US and are entirely hand knit. They are sold for $30 each online. When checking out, customers can credit SRU Campus Crew.
