Each May, once classes and finals are complete, Menlo students take part in MTerm: immersive mini-courses designed to get them learning out in our local and global communities. Hands-on and experiential, MTerm aligns with Menlo’s mission to empower students to become ethical, responsible, and engaged members of the world and develop a sense of commitment to purposes larger than themselves.

For sophomores, this means grappling with complex themes—justice, equity, and the cycle of poverty—and exploring how individual actions can effect change. Through seminar discussions and experiences out in the field, students build a deeper understanding of the social structures around them and begin to see themselves as active citizens in their own neighborhoods. “No matter how big the problem is, there’s always something we can do,” said Saanvi ’27.

Over the course of a week-and-a-half, the class visited Samaritan House, Soledad Correctional Training Facility, Alameda County Community Food Bank, Acta Non Verba Youth Urban Farm Project, and a Habitat for Humanity build site. Site visits were interwoven with on-campus learning, providing context for the systemic inequalities underlying themes of criminal justice, food insecurity, and housing instability.

At the end of their MTerm experience, sophomores marked World Hunger Day by tackling food insecurity on a more global scale. They partnered with nonprofit Rise Against Hunger to package over 10,000 school lunches for families facing famine. Since 2015, Menlo has hosted nine such events, collectively packaging over 120,000 meals for remote, last-mile communities designated “serious” or higher on the Global Hunger Index.

“That’s a really big contribution,” said Jeremy Loader, Rise Against Hunger area manager for Northern California. “I’m so thankful to have connected with Menlo, to be able to do this with the future leaders of the world,” he added, darting across the room to ring the gong in recognition of another 1,000 meals packaged.

About 733 million people across the globe do not have enough nutritious food to live a healthy life—which means that almost one in 11 people go to bed hungry each night.

“People suffer from food insecurity in places that you wouldn’t think, and in ways that you wouldn’t think.” reflected William ’27. “And it’s important to not only be grateful for the access to nutritious food that we have, but also consider how we can help and do as much as we can to provide that for other people.”

Rise Against Hunger was the perfect partner to help make this happen. “Every one of the boxes that they fill back there in the back of the room enables one student to get hot lunches for a full school year,” said Jeremy. “It’s always community-changing and often lifesaving.”

“It really is within our power to change someone else’s life,” agreed Matthew ’27 as he scooped rice, dehydrated vegetables, and vitamins into the food bag his classmate held open for him. “And that’s humbling.”