Thankful for Replenish
Megan Daniels, Class of 2024
Attending an out-of-state school can be pretty scary. When you don’t know anyone and you are far away from home, you might be fearful of feeling alone. However, for Wisconsin native Megan Daniels, class of 2024, coming to Grand Valley meant gaining a supportive community.
“This experience has allowed me to slowly transition into adulthood,” said Megan. “I moved out of my parents’ house, but I’m not completely on my own. It’s not scary when you have a support system to help you learn. I found that system through GVSU.”
Megan was drawn to GVSU because of the strong art department. Her favorite aspect of the studio art major is working with creative people. Megan’s professors and peers are helping her grow as an artist by pushing her own creativity. She is also gaining field-work experience as a preparatory and collections assistant for the GVSU Art Gallery.
“I’m learning how to curate art and how to display it properly, while sharing the importance of art with people in a university setting. That’s what I want to do when I graduate - bring art to everyone,” said Megan.
Everything seemed to be falling into place, until this past summer. Megan had an accident during a hike where she injured her foot. While recovering she was unable to work. It created a lot of uncertainties for the upcoming school year.
“It made it difficult to save money for the school year that I would usually use on groceries,” said Megan. “When I came back this fall, I was definitely worried about food insecurity.”
Megan is not the only student to have this worry. More than 1,000 Grand Valley students struggle with food insecurity each year. When students don’t have consistent access to enough quality food, it impacts them in the classroom and can derail their dream of earning a degree.
Thankfully, Grand Valley Lakers continue to support each other. One way is by funding the Replenish Basic Needs Center, a resource on campus that provides food and basic care items to students facing financial hardships.
“I decided to use the resource of Replenish and it’s helped take a weight off my shoulder. I don’t have to worry about where my food is coming from; I can just feed myself,” said Megan.
Megan is finishing the semester strong and looking forward to getting out of her walking boot soon. But most of all, Megan is ending this year grateful to be part of such a supportive community.
“I would like to say to the donors of Replenish, thank you,” said Megan. “It helps take stress off students’ minds to know that they have somewhere they can go and get food. They don’t have to worry about their financial status or what people are going to think of them. They can just go to a safe space and receive the food they need.”