Senior initiates Love Your Melon crew on campus
A few years ago, Casey Machia was looking through Instagram when she came across a beanie being promoted by someone she followed. That led her to look up an organization called Love Your Melon.
It wasn’t until this summer that Love Your Melon began to find its way onto Trevecca’s campus.
“I started following Love Your Melon on Instagram, and then this summer saw that you could apply to start a crew on your own college campus,” said Machia. “To start the crew on campus you had to apply on Love Your Melon’s webpage, and wait for them to accept you. Since I applied to start the campus crew here at Trevecca, that made me the crew leader.”
The Love Your Melon Campus Crew Program is an apparel brand which is “dedicated to giving a hat to every child battling cancer in America as well as supporting nonprofit organizations who also lead the fight against pediatric cancer,” according to the organization's website.
The organization has donated over 51,264 hats to children battling cancer since it was founded in 2014. Currently, there are over 740 campus crews, which have held more than 705 in-person donation events within the United States.
“I was looking for a way to give back to the community as well as be a part of something at Trevecca that I have such passion for. I thought other students might want to join me in this fight against pediatric cancer and may also be looking for a way to give back to their community as well,” said Machia.
Starting the process to bring a Love Your Melon crew to Trevecca was something personal for Machia.
“Cancer has impacted my friends and family, and it is amazing to be a part of an organization where 50 percent of the proceeds go to pediatric research,” said Machia. “I have always had a passion for working with kids, so this organization whose mission is to provide kids that are battling cancer with a therapeutic experience, was something I knew I wanted to be a part of.”
The Love Your Melon campus crew has 12 members, but is restricted to 20 until the group is able to acquire more credits. They acquire credits by getting people to buy the company's apparel.
“The purpose of the crew is to promote Love Your Melon’s products to students and our friends and family so that we can earn credit and participate in more donation events like going to a hospital and donating hats to kids,” said Machia. “By students telling their families and friends to buy Love Your Melon products and clicking Trevecca Nazarene University campus crew at checkout, our crew gets more credits so that we can do amazing things like donation events.”
To find out more information about the Love Your Melon’s mission visit www.loveyourmelon.com or visiting the Love Your Melon Campus Crew - Trevecca Nazarene University on their Facebook or Instagram page for updates. Contact Casey Machia to find out how to join the crew.
By Ashley Walling and Bailey Basham for the Trevechoes, Trevecca’s student newspaper where this article originally appeared
Media contact: Mandy Crow, mmcrow@trevecca.edu, 615-248-1695