Brian Keller (left) and Zachary Quinn (right)
Seeing beyond the facade of grades and GPA’s, Brian Keller and Zachary Quinn took their college entrepreneurship project as more than just an academic endeavor. An assignment given on the second day of class was transformed by these two men into tangible hope, love, and support for pediatric cancer patients nationwide in less than two years. Love Your Melon is a social enterprise which personally delivers knit beanies to children fighting cancer upon each sale. The company’s immense success forced them to evolve from donating the hats on a buy-one, give-one basis, to donating half their profits to other nonprofit organizations fighting pediatric cancer and working alongside afflicted families because sales exceeded patients to donate to.
Heavily involved in serving the homeless with his parents as a child, and inspired by the philosophy of Toms Shoes, Quinn conceived the idea of Love Your Melon. To begin $3,500 was raised in loans from friends and family, the first round of beanies were bought, patches chartered from a local embroiderer, and only one weekend with a booth outside a restaurant later 200 beanies had been sold and 200 more distributed to oncology patients. Spreading like wildfire, sales grew exponentially and supply was quickly trampled by demand. To go beyond financial participation in the 
cause, Keller and Quinn expanded their enterprise to incorporate customers directly through a college ambassador program. It began with a bus tour across the nation stopping at college campuses to sell, and then transport the students to local hospitals to deliver the gifts first hand. On top of this, product offerings have broadened to blankets, apparel, accessories, even bling for pets, and beyond.
Overwhelmed by the realization that health is not a guarantee, but a blessing, Keller and Quinn desired to come alongside their afflicted peers- aware that they could just as easily be in the opposite position. The co-owners continue to be inspired by the fighting spirits they meet every day. With over 170,000 hats and 6.2 million dollars donated since just October of 2012, it is evident that these mere students identified a clear need that others are eager to support. Working within the simple means and limitations of college students, Keller and Quinn were able to see past themselves, refusing to take a class assignment for granted. Now thousands of children are surrounded by an entire community of beanie-wearing supporters. Hair or no hair-no matter-fashionable head wear is a uniting force.
I have seen Love Your Melon beanies in stores but I never knew the story behind them. It is very exciting to learn that Love Your Melon was born in an entrepreneurship class, on the second day no less, and has had such a huge impact on the world!
This is such a cool story! I have heard of the brand Love Your Melon, but I did not know the story and meaning behind the hats and company. It’s awesome to hear that they came up with the idea on the second day of class. This is definitely an inspiration to hear as we will never know where an idea will take us.
The realization that health is a blessing not a guarantee is extremely impactful. It is hard to be appreciative of our own health relative to others when that is how we exist every day. These young men are impressive examples of putting others at the forefront of their mission. Their vision guids their action and that is how more of us should live.
It is always encouraging to see efforts that began in a classroom pay off as a real world endeavor. This is such an important cause and these guys displayed their entrepreneurial passion and applied it to practical means. Very impressive and heartwarming.