A home opener that is traditionally a “blue out” went gold this past weekened in conjunction with Childhood Cancer Month. On Saturday, September 17, the University of New Haven football team faced off against Saint Anselm with sponsorship from the U.N.H. Love Your Melon Crew.
Founded in 2012, Love Your Melon is an attire-base organization that sells hats, beanies, apparel, and other accessories and donate the majority of funds to childhood cancer. The organization sponsors visits to kids in hospitals, events that are dedicated entirely to a child, and is determined to donate a hat to every child battling cancer.
In the spring of 2015, Love Your Melon was officially recognized on the U.N.H. campus to join the 740 other campuses across the country fighting against childhood cancer.
Throughout the past two weeks, Love Your Melon has been reaching out to various clubs, organizations, athletic teams, and academic departments to both educate them on childhood cancer and recruit for an awareness video that will be entered in a regional competition to host a “super hero adventure” for a kid who is battling cancer, which they ended up winning thanks to the passion and dedication seen throughout the video.
“I am so unbelievably honored to be apart of something that truly makes a difference,” Love Your Melon Vice President Brianna Sirota said. “We worked 24/7 for two weeks to make the best video we could and spread the mission and awareness to as many people as possible, and now because of that a local superhero gets to have the adventure of a lifetime.”
A “super hero adventure” is similar to Make-A-Wish in the sense that the crew is assigned a child battling cancer to hold an event composed of various activities for the child by making them feel like a superhero for the day – an opportunity that typically only largely populated schools get to hold according to Sirota.
“We never thought that we would have been able to have that opportunity to host a super hero adventure for a kid,” Sirota said. “The fact that we will is a big deal for us and I could not be more proud of the crew.”
At the game, Love Your Melon tabled at the entrance of DellaCamera Stadium where they handed out ribbons and encouraged people to take their pledge to help combat childhood cancer.
Leading up to the “gold out,” the crew hosted a table at West Fest on Sept. 10 where they educated the community about their organization by spreading awareness and asking community members to take their pledge by leaving a gold handprint on their poster.
Sirota has been with the organization since its installation and could not have been prouder of the strides the organization has taken as cancer has taken it’s toll on her personal life.
“My father passed away from cancer and seeing the toll it took on my family, I can’t even imagine it for a child,” Sirota said who is dedicated toward Love Your Melon’s mission of raising awareness and support.
For more information regarding Love Your Melon check out loveyourmelon.com and support the U.N.H. campus crew and childhood cancer with a purchase of a beanie or other accessory.
