Nurses Throw “Love Your Melon” Hat Party for Cancer Patients

Nurses wear many hats as the saying goes, but never was this more apparent than during a “Love Your Melon” day party that a group of Cancer and Blood Disease Institute nurses recently threw for their patients.

On March 11, a group of care givers on A5 threw a party to hand out colorful, knit hats and gifts that were donated thanks to the efforts of A5C inpatient nurses Kimberly Shepherd and Shannon Flaherty.

“Last November, I became an ambassador for a small company called Love Your Melon. This is a hat company started by two college students with the mission that for every hat sold, another hat is donated to a child battling cancer,” Kimberly said.

Kimberly and Shannon formed team “Change the Outcome” to participate in the company’s buy-one, give-one program. Together with help from their colleagues, family members, and friends, the team sold more than 50 hats over the holidays, earning 50 hats to give to patients and a small stipend.

This spring, nurses and child life specialists on the unit used the stipend to throw a party for patients and their families. Inpatients, like Anna Camerer (pictured above with nurses Megan O’Maley, Shannon Flaherty, Kim Shepherd and Anna Herbert), visited the unit’s playroom where they could pick out their favorite knit hat, design a ball cap, and decorate cookies. The party then made a second stop in the day hospital so outpatients could also choose a hat and enjoy the festivities.

“The Love Your Melon day demonstrated the resilience of our patients and the commitment CBDI nurses have to the unit,” said Anna Herbert, a fellow inpatient nurse.

The feedback from our patients and their families was great and we’re seeing lots of new colorful hats on beautiful heads around the medical center!