Love Your Melon Unveils Partnership with Pinky Swear Foundation

LOVE YOUR MELON SELLS ENOUGH HATS TO GIVE ONE TO EVERY CHILD BATTLING CANCER IN AMERICA

Expands Mission Through New Partnership With CureSearch For Children’s Cancer And Pinky Swear Foundation – Fifty Percent of Love Your Melon Net Proceeds Now Fund Cancer Research and Immediate Support for Families

MINNEAPOLIS (April 7, 2015)—Love Your Melon, a Minnesota based non-profit started by college students, has reserved more than 45,000 hats to donate to children battling cancer in the United States through its original buy one, give one program. This is equal to the number of children currently undergoing cancer treatment in the country. The hats are donated in person at hospitals nationally by Love Your Melon college ambassadors dressed as superheroes. If you know a child battling cancer that hasn’t received a Love Your Melon hat yet, visit the website to request a hospital delivery.To celebrate reaching this goal and further expand its impact, Love Your Melon is announcing a new partnership with the Pinky Swear Foundation, providing immediate support for children battling cancer and another with CureSearch for Children’s Cancer to fund research initiatives on track to beat childhood cancer completely. These partnerships will begin on April 7 as Love Your Melon makes $50,000 contributions to each organization. Love Your Melon will launch a new model to replace its buy one, give one program beginning April 8. Fifty percent (50%) of net proceeds on every Love Your Melon product sold will now be donated to provide immediate support to children battling cancer through the Pinky Swear Foundation and to research to find a cure for childhood cancer through CureSearch for Children’s Cancer.

Every year there are 15,000 children in the country given new cancer diagnoses. Through funding from future product sales, Love Your Melon will continue to give hats to all of these kids in addition to the 45,000 it has already committed to.

“As human beings we all seek to find our purpose in this world. The way I see it, if you’re not putting a smile on your own face and the faces of others around you, you’re lost. From the moment we delivered our first hat, we knew the smiles we could create,” said Zachary Quinn, founder, Love Your Melon.  “Having now reached our goal, it’s time to set a new one. Let’s beat childhood cancer for good. At Love Your Melon we will continue to provide a hat to each child battling cancer in America through our superhero visits but also 50% of our net proceeds will go directly to cancer research initiatives and immediate support for children and their families.”

“Pinky Swear Foundation is passionately committed to helping children with cancer and their families by being fanatically responsive to the immediate crisis facing families with a childhood cancer diagnosis. Pinky Swear changes the lives of children with cancer, their families, and the communities we serve by providing basic needs support and unique family programs,” said Brian Nelson, executive director of Pinky Swear Foundation. “Pinky Swear Foundation is thrilled to further its impact on kids with cancer and their families through this tremendous partnership with Love Your Melon.”

“Aggressively driving targeted and innovative pediatric cancer research with measurable results is our mission,” said Laura Thrall, CEO of CureSearch for Children’s Cancer. “And, in sharing in our entrepreneurial spirit, we are pleased Love Your Melon has chosen us as a partner as they expand their efforts to support the best cancer research. The collaboration between CureSearch and Love Your Melon will allow us to raise awareness of the number one cause of death by disease in children, drive research that become cures, and improve the quality of life of these young cancer fighters.”

Love Your Melon was founded in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2012. Since its inception, founders Zachary Quinn and Brian Keller have used their connections to establish a network of college students called Love Your Melon Campus Ambassadors who are the superheroes responsible for donating hats to children battling cancer in communities nationwide. To date, more than 1,500 college students at over 150 different schools across the country have signed on as ambassadors to sell and donate hats as a part of the crew.

Go to loveyourmelon.com to purchase an American made beanie or baseball cap and in doing so, you’ll be making a difference in the life of a child. If you know a child who is undergoing cancer treatment but who does not yet have a Love Your Melon hat, please request one to be delivered on the website.About Love Your Melon

The Love Your Melon Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that funds childhood cancer research initiatives, provides immediate support for children and their families and donates a hat to every child battling cancer in America. Zachary Quinn and Brian Keller founded the organization on Oct. 22, 2012 while the two were students at the University of St. Thomas. The Love Your Melon hat has become a symbol of community for children battling cancer and their families across the country. For more information on Love Your Melon, visit loveyourmelon.com, follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @LoveYourMelon and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/LoveYourMelon.

About Pinky Swear Foundation

Pinky Swear Foundation was founded on a pinky swear promise as a dying wish between a nine-year old boy and his father to help children with cancer and their families by providing immediate basic needs support and unique family programs. That pinky swear, the most solemn of oaths between two people, lives on today in the Pinky Swear Foundation. Pinky Swear Foundation is passionately committed to helping children with cancer and their families by being fanatically responsive to the immediate crisis facing families with a childhood cancer diagnosis by providing non-medical financial needs support and quality of life programs. Pinky Swear Foundation activities include the world’s largest kids fundraising triathlon series, National Pinky Swear Day, and other community engagement opportunities. Visit at PinkySwear.org or follow on Twitter at @PinkySwearFndtn.

About CureSearch for Children’s Cancer

CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, a national nonprofit organization based in Bethesda, Maryland, works to end childhood cancer by driving targeted and innovative research with measureable results in an accelerated time frame. CureSearch is building a $10 million research pipeline to aggressively drive pediatric research grants and clinical trials that have a higher chance of becoming cures for children’s cancer without the toxic side effects that plague current treatment options. For more information, visit www.curesearch.org, follow on Twitter @curesearch or join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/curesearch.