Minnesota's Love Your Melon pauses operations after 12 years
KARE 11
[{'start': '1.230', 'end': '2.109', 'text': "Welcome to breaking the news. I'm Janice Shortle. It has been more than a decade since two Saint Thomas students turned Love Your Melon, the hats, into a national brand by convincing Americans to spend more on those hats in order to help kids battling cancer. And then last night everything just stopped. Love your melon quietly announced that it's pressing pause. They posted on their website and social media those exact words last night. Kent, take it from there. Jana, the Post left many confused even this morning because while Love Your Melon says it's pressing pause to take a step back and reflect, it also mentions a final donation of more than $200,000 to its nonprofit partners. And speaking of those partners, one of its biggest had no idea this was coming. Love Your Melon's impact in 12.5 years can't just be measured in the thousands of beanies it donated to kids battling cancer or the millions of dollars it gave nonprofits. They were really transformational in the growth of our organization. They were a true partner that came alongside of us, believed in our mission, and helped us in every way. Mary Beth Meyer is director of marketing for the Pinky Swear. and the parent of a childhood cancer survivor, Pinky Swear Foundation exists to support families who have a child that is battling cancer. I became involved in Pinkys Swear Foundation in 2018 when my own son was diagnosed with cancer, she says. Love your Melon became involved even earlier, and the tight bond with Pinky Swear was a natural fit. They were featured across the country and they were really. Known for being there for families when a child was diagnosed with cancer, which is why when Love Your Melon suddenly announced that it's pressing pause, it caught them off guard. I actually was watching the news this morning and I saw the statement that was released on your channel this morning, so that's how I found out. A partner that goes back this long, that's how you found out that's heartbreaking. I I think what's heartbreaking about this news is that we love love your melon. We go back with their original founders and we're just so thankful for that support, but all of us are being hit really, really hard with just the reality of the economic climate this year. We're seeing a 30% increase in demand for our services and so every dollar really, really matters to us and so to hear that one of our big partners. Big funders is going to pause operations is a really hard pill to swallow. Mary Beth admits the partnership hasn't been as strong since the founders sold Love Your Melon in 2022 to a New York-based e-commerce company called Win Brands Group. Just last week, I know that there was a change in leadership with their organization, and so I was trying to, you know, figure out what funding was going to look like, what their grant system was gonna look like this year, um, but I. -- Don't think I'll get a -- response. Though in light of all their history, she hopes she's wrong, -- and this really is just a -- pause. Truly in my heart of hearts, hope that Love your melon can restructure, reorganize, get back to the heart and the mission that they so beautifully set out to do because the kids and the families desperately need it. Now I also reached out to Love Your Melon today, and I was simply told they are working on what's next for the brand and its mission of fighting pediatric cancer. And on that front, M Health Fairview, which has received more than $1.4 million in support over the years, said today later this year we'll celebrate the opening of our Love Your Melon resource center where we will carry forward their. Incredible legacy of compassion, Jana, so take that however you'd like at this point because it's all a little confusing. Yeah, it's just so abrupt and you know a lot of people here at CARE, a lot of our viewers have had a relationship with the people who founded Love Your Melon. It was this wonderful thing created here, so it just feels kind of strange that it stops. I know they were sold, but. That we don't have a lot of answers. Yeah, and they did say it's an end of a chapter, so hopefully there's some new chapter that they're hinting at. All right, I'll look forward to the new chapters. I'm sure everybody else will too. Thank you so much, Kent. We appreciate it. Be right back."}]