Replenish unveils updated space to better serve students

Replenish Basic Needs Center got a facelift over the summer. Located in the basement of Kirkhof Center on the Valley Campus, Replenish is Grand Valley’s on-campus food pantry providing fresh food, pantry staples, frozen goods and household essentials to those in need. 

The changes include new refrigeration and freezer space, updated shelving and a new layout designed to better accommodate visitors and volunteers. 

The new space was officially unveiled at a ribbon-cutting on Sept. 16, inviting the Grand Valley community to view the updates and learn about the history of Replenish. September is Hunger Action Month, and the event was part of a week of Replenish programming, educating students about food insecurity and the resources available to them on campus. 

Last academic year, Replenish served 1,080 individuals and distributed over 31,000 pounds of goods, said Mimi Sperl, assistant director of the Center for Women and Gender Equity (CWGE).

The pantry saw an average of 90-100 visitors last year, said Sperl, adding that she anticipates that those numbers will only continue to increase. Sperl oversaw the updates to the space, making changes to better accommodate the needs of Replenish visitors. 

“We worked with our partners at Laker Food Company to get new retail shelving, which allowed us to increase the amount of food and offer more variety of what we have available,” said Sperl. They also updated their checkout process with a new desk and integrated pantry software. 

“The best thing that we did, largely as a result of our Giving Tuesday fundraising push last year, was getting a second industrial freezer and a full double-door retail freezer, which was a huge increase in the amount of frozen foods that we could offer,” said Sperl. Students had been asking about more fresh food options, she said, so increased refrigeration and freezer space will directly address that need. 

Sperl led the ribbon-cutting along with Susana Villagomez ’11, who started Replenish in 2009 as a student worker at the CWGE. 

“Replenish is very dear to me,” said Villagomez, who got the idea for an on-campus food pantry from observing what was available at other universities. 

What began as a single cabinet in the CWGE office in 2009 has expanded into two locations on the Valley and City campuses, in addition to a plethora of other resources available to students: a meal swipe donation program, a laptop loan program and access to many other resources. 

“It's so surreal to be a part of something that has flourished into such a huge project,” said Villagomez. “I'm so thankful for leadership that has always been supportive of me, and I'm so happy that all of you have been a part of something like this as well.” 

The updates space will also be more suitable for volunteers, said Sperl, who hopes to increase volunteer opportunities this year. 

Replenish is back on Feeding America’s delivery route, providing the pantry with a reliable supply of fresh food, frozen proteins, cleaning supplies and shelf-stable essentials. Between these regular deliveries and a reorganized storage room with more space and shelving, the pantry’s capacity for volunteers has increased, Sperl said. 

If you are interested in volunteering, an email sign-up and list of high-demand pantry items can be found on the Replenish website . 

Replenish is located in the basement of Kirkhof Center and is open Tuesday through Friday, noon-5 p.m. A second location can be found on the third floor of the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences building on the Health Campus, open Thursday and Friday, noon-5 p.m. 

Learn more about resources at Replenish.