Junior spreads awareness for children with cleft lips

In the summer after her freshman year, now-junior Ankitha Sarvesh was staying with her grandparents in Chennai, India, where she worked for an organization called the Smile Train Center. When she met an 8-year-old girl from a small village who had traveled to Chennai for cleft lip surgery, her heart stopped. She sensed that the girl wanted to crack a smile, but simply couldn’t. After a surgery to repair the girl’s condition, Sarvesh witnessed her wide, jubilant grin for the first time. It was a moment Ankitha said she would never forget.

Following this experience, Sarvesh was inspired to do more to help. Rather than buy her birthday gifts for her 14th birthday, Sarvesh asked her friends to donate to Smile Train, which aids children with the cleft lip condition in more than 85 developing countries. Children with cleft lips have trouble drinking, eating, hearing, and speaking, but the condition can be fixed by an operation costing around $250.

With the birthday checks given to her in subsequent years, Sarvesh has managed to donate nearly $750 to Smile Train, enough to help three children.

But Sarvesh hasn’t been satisfied by relying solely on her birthdays to donate money. She founded her own organization in 2013, Miles for Smiles, to raise awareness for children with cleft lips.

Miles for Smiles is an official school club with around 12 members that aims to raise money for Smile Train through fitness and running. Sarvesh’s friends and family donate a certain amount of money for every mile that she runs.

“One of my uncles in New Zealand donates a generous dollar for every mile that I complete,” said Sarvesh. “By the end of the year, I raised $1,250, which is enough to save five children.”

As more and more of her friends started expressing interest in the organization, Sarvesh decided that it was time to create some sort of event that would raise public attention and help her achieve her goals.  

On March 28, Smiles for Miles will be hosting a 5-mile run on the school’s track from 8-11 a.m. Sarvesh hopes to promote her cause through a fun social event.   

“I’m really excited to go to this event because [Sarvesh] is my friend and we want to support her,” junior Meghan Shah said. “It’s also good for us because we get to exercise together while also making a difference in the world.”

By asking people to invest in every mile that someone runs, the goal is to raise around $7,000. With each surgery costing around $250, Sarvesh hopes to provide surgery to 28 children through funds from this event.

Sarvesh said she also she hopes to motivate students to participate is by asking the school to award an hour of community service for every $50 raised by the student.

“The event is going to be a great way to bring attention to the cleft condition,” Sarvesh said. “It’s a fun way to run with your friends as well as raise money for an amazing cause. I hope that every runner can encourage their own friends and family to donate to their running efforts.”