By Andrea Stachura

The University of Nebraska at Kearney’s student-run coffee shop, Brewed Awakening, will be delivering their “Secret Valentine Gift Bags” to students on campus today to help students celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Students were encouraged the last few weeks to purchase gift bags for their loved ones that would be on campus on Valentine’s Day. The gift bags ranged in price from $3-$40, and consisted of a variety of donuts, Eileen’s Cookies, coffee vouchers, Calico Coffee bags and gift cards. The last day to order a gift bag was Feb. 11.

Over the past few weeks, students had the opportunity to make the gift anonymous or leave the recipient a personalized note to let their loved ones know who sent the gift bag.

Brewed Awakening is the only student-run business on campus, founded in 2012 by UNK’s entrepreneurship organization, ENACTUS. It was originally located in UNK’s Health and Sports Center.

The shop, on average, employs between four to six students who work at the shop during the academic year and are overseen by a board of directors consisting of students from a variety of majors across campus.

The inspiration for Brewed Awakening was to give students a place to put their skills and knowledge to work through experiential learning in a business setting.

In January of 2016, they made the move to their current location, the first floor of West Center, which is home to the University’s College of Business and Technology. The new location allowed them to be closer to their campus advisors. The move also allowed them to expand their menu and establish a regular customer base of students, staff and faculty who frequent West Center.

Brewed Awakening is always serving up black coffee and packaged foods; in the last year they have expanded their menu to include specialty hot/iced coffee drinks, bagels, Eileen’s Cookies and Daylight Donuts.

Although the student-run coffee shop has experienced a lot of growth in the last few years, they are looking forward to the future. Proceeds from the coffee shop help to fund the campus ENACTUS projects that aim to help the campus and surrounding community. They have recently taken to social media to encourage students to donate to their GoFundMe campaign to purchase an espresso machine. This would allow them to expand their menu to include espresso-based drinks like cappuccinos, mochas and lattes. Adding variety to their menu, they hope to grow their customer base and increase revenue for their ENACTUS projects.

As of Feb. 10, they have raised $525 of their $1000 goal, according to their GoFundMe campaign. Contributors to the campaign will be recognized on a permanent display in the Brewed Awakening coffee shop. To keep up with the events happening at Brewed Awakening or to donate to the espresso machine fund, you can follow Brewed Awakening on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Brewed Awakening is always serving up black coffee and packaged foods; in the last year they have expanded their menu to include specialty hot/iced coffee drinks, bagels, Eileen’s Cookies and Daylight Donuts.

Although the student-run coffee shop has experienced a lot of growth in the last few years, they are looking forward to the future. Proceeds from the coffee shop help to fund the campus ENACTUS projects that aim to help the campus and surrounding community. They have recently taken to social media to encourage students to donate to their GoFundMe campaign to purchase an espresso machine. This would allow them to expand their menu to include espresso-based drinks like cappuccinos, mochas and lattes. Adding variety to their menu, they hope to grow their customer base and increase revenue for their ENACTUS projects.

As of Feb. 10, they have raised $525 of their $1000 goal, according to their GoFundMe campaign. Contributors to the campaign will be recognized on a permanent display in the Brewed Awakening coffee shop. To keep up with the events happening at Brewed Awakening or to donate to the espresso machine fund, you can follow Brewed Awakening on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.