On October 19th, the Love Your Melon team arrived at Masonic Children's Hospital, as we have done so many times before. Masonic was the site of Love Your Melon's very first beanie donation event, and in the ten years since, a deeply impactful partnership has blossomed. This visit was even more special. This visit was to commemorate reaching a donation milestone of $1.475 million to M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital with the unveiling of Love Your Melon’s new plaque on Masonic's Million Dollar Wall, as well as Love Your Melon’s designs for the updated Family Resource Center.
At the event, our co-founders Zachary and Brian presented a check to Masonic Children's Hospital in honor of 10 years of partnership and funding that has supported a wide variety of advancements for the hospital over the years, including:
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Research projects with renowned doctors
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Investments in technology like 3D bioprinters
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A dog therapy program
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The Love Your Melon Lounge – a cozy lounge and bubble hockey table within the Kyle Rudolph End Zone.
Masonic Physician-in-Chief Joseph Neglia and UMN Foundation Director of Development Nick Engbloom spoke on behalf of Masonic, recognizing LYM's contributions, and sharing some fun stories about their first interactions with Zachary and Brian 10 years ago. It was a beautiful full-circle moment – looking back at all we have achieved together, and looking ahead at what’s to come.
Love Your Melon is just getting started, and we couldn't be more excited about the future of our partnership with Masonic Children's Hospital. We used this event as an opportunity to share design plans for what will soon be renamed the Love Your Melon Family Resource Center! Our 2021 funding and pledged donation of $200k will fund updates to the center, which is scheduled to be complete in 2024.
We could never have reached this milestone without our tight knit community of Love Your Melon supporters. Every beanie you purchase truly makes a difference in the lives of children and families battling cancer. This achievement is as much yours as it is ours, and we can’t thank you enough!
