Madeline Cumbey

Project: SMART2BFIT

When Madeline Cumbey was only 2 years old, she was diagnosed with high cholesterol. While human beings need high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (sometimes called “good” cholesterol) to build healthy cells, its opposite low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (sometimes called “bad” cholesterol) can cause health problems. People can help maintain a good balance in their bodies by eating right and exercising.

So, Madeline learned at a young age the importance of eating healthy food. When she began volunteering at a food pantry in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at age 9, she noticed there was not very much fresh food available. Fresh food is often healthier than processed food, but it is usually more expensive.

Madeline’s experience with her own health and her family’s history of heart disease, stroke, and cancer led her to establish SMART2bfit (pronounced smart-to-be-fit). SMART stands for Service, Multi-purpose, Activity, Real hope, and Teaching. She wanted to fight issues like hunger, thirst, and childhood obesity by growing fresh food and encouraging people to exercise. She thought that if kids could work together on such projects, the next generation would be a healthier one.

Madeline’s project had three parts to it. SMART2bfit clubs promoted healthy habits by teaching kids how to cook healthier and how to be more active. SMART2bfit gardens gave kids the opportunity to learn how to grow food and also provided fresh produce for people in need. SMART2bfit walks raised awareness about the lack of access to safe, adequate water supplies, a problem that affects more than a billion people around the world. SMART2bfit also raised money to build wells in places such as Kenya and South Sudan, directly helping solve that very problem. The walks also gave people chances to get outside and be active.

Madeline used her Power of Children Award grant to create and maintain a website devoted to SMART2bfit. It also allowed supporters to donate to its cause. From the beginning Madeline and her younger brother Carter served as ambassadors for healthy living. As a 7th-grader in Oswego, Illinois, in 2014, she was invited to do a presentation about SMART2bfit at the 25th Annual Monumental Service Learning Conference in Washington, D.C., where she also received the annual Youth Leadership for Service-Learning Excellence Award. While there she had the opportunity to tell her story to members of the U.S. Congress, and talked about the importance of service learning.

She used the extra grant money left after she created her website to create the fifth SMART kid community garden, in a town in Missouri. She hoped communities across the country would create additional SMART gardens, and she credited the Power of Children gallery at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis for inspiring her to continue her efforts to improve the diets and health of people around the world.

But she never forgot how SMART2bfit got started—with something that was important to her, which motivated her to do what she felt was right. “Know that you have power just being who you are,” she said when asked what she would tell others considering service projects of their own. “Be yourself, tell your story, no one else can be you.”