Love Your Melon COVID-19 Response
Our Mission
Through product sales, 50% of our net profit is given to nonprofit organizations to fight pediatric cancer. Nothing is changing regarding our mission and financial gifts to nonprofits. The amount we give each year is announced at the end of the year. Most recently, we gave over $1M in 2019. Please visit our Giving Page to see the amounts that we’ve given to nonprofits thus far.
Giving
As of Friday, March 13th and until further notice, we have postponed all in-person giving events. This includes our hospital visits, superhero beanie deliveries and adventures for children battling cancer. We will be shipping superhero costumes and beanies directly to hospitals and care facilities to be distributed by doctors, nurses, child life specialists and care providers to children that need them. Due to restrictions on the events our Campus Crews host on campuses and in hospitals across the country, our Campus Crew Program will be shut down for the rest of the school year and reassessed as the situation progresses.
Parent and Family Resources
We put together a list of our favorite educational programs, apps and resources to help parents and families provide their children with engaging and interactive activities during this time. These are available via most smartphones, tablets and computers and are free to access. Please visit our Parent and Family Resources Blog Post to access them.
New Impact Strategies
Our internal team is working diligently on new and innovative ways to help serve children battling cancer and their families. These individuals need our support now more than ever and we will find a way to get it to them without putting anyone at risk. We are working on funding streaming services, digital entertainment, games, online learning initiatives and other activities to help children and families in hospitals and care facilities get through the weeks ahead. Globally, we are continuing to fund life-saving cancer drugs for families with children battling cancer that cannot afford them. More of our funding will be directed here and we will share the impact of these programs over the coming weeks.
Production
Many of our manufacturers are taking a similar approach to help contain the spread of the virus by shutting down their facilities over the next few weeks. Those remaining open are implementing social distancing protocols throughout their facilities and adding more sanitation measures in order to limit the impact and spread of the virus. All employees working in our manufacturing network are being instructed to remain home if they are feeling unwell or if they have been in contact with someone with the coronavirus. Many of our manufacturing partners are offering assistance with scheduling flexibility around childcare as well.
Releases
We postponed product releases scheduled for Thursday, March 19th and Thursday, March 26th due to recent events to focus on our giving initiatives. Our Lightweight Release will be on Thursday, April 2nd and will feature three different lightweight beanie releases. These will allow you to wear your favorite beanies year-round and are perfect for working from home. You can preview the three releases here. Our ability to give comes through the sale of our products. We are grateful for your support through this time and we will continue to work together to make the largest impact we can for children battling cancer. Please stay tuned to our social media accounts and look for emails for updates.
Pre-Orders
If you pre-ordered products from our Star Wars x LYM: Mandalorian Release, your order is still expected to ship on or before April 24th, 2020.
Warehousing & Fulfillment
Our primary fulfillment center in Romeoville, IL, run by Geodis, will remain open until further notice. They have implemented social distancing protocols, increased the number of cleaning shifts and are offering employees protective masks and gloves to wear upon request. All employees working on our account are instructed to remain home if they are feeling unwell or have been in contact with someone with the coronavirus. Periodic corporate updates are available here.
Shipping
Our shipping carrier partners are remaining operational until further notice and are implementing increased sanitation and social distancing protocols. We appreciate your patience in any shipping delays as some hub facilities throughout the country may be more impacted by the virus than others.
Social Media
We will be significantly cutting back on our social media and storytelling efforts out of respect for other news and information that need to be shown regarding COVID-19. Most of our posts at this time will be related to our giving efforts around the country for children battling cancer and their families. These individuals need support now more than ever. We encourage you to continue sharing what Love Your Melon means to you on social media during this time and expressing your support for children battling cancer and their families.
Photo & Video
We have postponed any photo & video shoots involving our team members and models at this time. Any content you see posted on our social media pages was taken prior to the Friday, March 13th shutdown or created by influencers following CDC guidelines on social distancing. Our team is continuing to create other content including product shots for upcoming releases.
Our Team
We are actively monitoring developments related to the spread of coronavirus through a variety of sources, such as the WHO, CDC, White House COVID-19 Panel Announcements and news outlets.
As of Friday, March 13th, 2020, our internal team is working remotely until further notice in order to reduce the potential for virus spread. We have provided our team with protective equipment in order to help curb the spread of the virus and we are strongly recommending that our team does not travel for any reason at this time. Our Headquarters and Studio Spaces are closed until further notice to both our team and the public.
With our large network of US manufacturers and distributors, we are able to source products in bulk quickly. We are working directly with their team to determine what additional needs they have for Personal Protective Equipment and we are actively sourcing and getting manufacturers online as quickly as possible to fulfill those needs. We placed an order for N95 respirator masks prior to the shortage for use in protecting kids and families during our interactions with them at children’s hospitals and care facilities across the country. We donated our supply of over 1,000 masks to the M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center on Wednesday, March 18th, 2020. These will be put directly to work in their system for doctors, nurses and care providers to use when treating and interacting with patients.
We’ll continue to update here as the situation progresses.