In 2012, two friends, Zachary and Brian, got the idea to start a business with a meaningful social impact while sitting in a college entrepreneurship class. They decided that the focus of their business would be to improve the lives of children battling cancer, and from here they created the popular beanie company Love Your Melon.
Zachary and Brian began with the simple goal of putting a hat on every child battling cancer in America- 45,000 hats total. For every hat purchased, Love Your Melon donates another hat to a child battling cancer in the US. Since 2012, Love Your Melon has given 222,333 beanies to kids facing pediatric cancer. 15,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year, and Love Your Melon strives to connect with all of them through their beanies.
As the business grew, Zachary and Brian also added the goal of supporting the fight against pediatric cancer by donating one million dollars to pediatric cancer research. Love Your Melon donates fifty percent of their net profit from the sale of all of their products to nonprofit organizations that support the fight against pediatric cancer. These organizations conduct research, create therapeutic experiences, and fund programming initiatives for children fighting cancer and their families. Since their start, Love Your Melon has donated $8,313,239 to a variety of nonprofits fighting to end childhood cancer, with over $1,250,000 dollars donated in 2020 alone.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2019, Zachary and Brian found a way to help solve the new and urgent need of face masks for the medical community, patients, and families across the U.S. Between the launch of their face masks and July 2020, Love Your Melon was able to donate 845,124 masks to the medical community through their Buy One Give One Program.
Clearly, Zachary and Brian’s idea for a class project that would create a social impact has turned into a very successful business. More importantly, Love Your Melon has created an even bigger impact in the lives of thousands of children battling pediatric cancer and their families!
I love this story so much. I have gotten so many love your Mellon hats over the years but never knew the whole story to it. I love how these young adults make a change in the world.