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Thirteen-year-old Lexington Twins model the spirit of giving

Dawny Gershkowitz/Correspondent Wicked Local, Published Dec 13, 2021

Talk about a win-win situation!

Thirteen-year-old Lexington twins Anya and Zubin Gupta recently organized a clothing drive for the Epilepsy Foundation of New England, collecting over 300 bags of apparel and accessories. In turn, the Epilepsy Foundation paid 15 cents per pound—a total of 508—to a cause the siblings chose. That money will go directly to Lexington’s Clarke Middle School, which will earmark the funds to help students who need financial assistance for field trips.

“The Epilepsy Foundation, in a single stop, picked up more than one-and-a-half tons of resellable items for their thrift shops,” Zubin said. “People decluttered without adding to landfills, and our school has cash to help students,” Anya added. Clarke School’s Principal, Dane Despres, wrote to the twins, “I am impressed by your organization, your commitment to community service, and your thoughtfulness.”

History of good deeds done

The Epilepsy Foundation drive was a major step in the twins’ history of good deeds. Over a period of six weeks, about 150 individuals donated 3,200 pounds that the twins moved to their cellar.  Donors often left notes of support and thanks. On Veterans Day, six friends joined Zubin and Anya, forming a chain from cellar to driveway, and then from drive to the Epilepsy Foundation truck. After the truck was full, the Guptas gave the volunteers a pizza lunch and gift cards to Rancatore’s Ice Cream.

Twynphony Hopes Foundation

Anya and Zubin have a surprising history of charity for their age, and a broad range of interests that enter into their charitable work. When they were eight, they volunteered at Sudbury’s Buddy Dog Animal Shelter. In 2017, they created the YouTube channel “Twynphony Rocks”—a play on their twinship and the word symphony—where they could perform music.

In April 2020, as Covid-19 impacted life everywhere,  Zubin and Anya put together 25 lunch bags for the House of Mercy, a homeless shelter in Lawrence. Shortly after that, they decided to form Twynphony Hopes with the goal of promoting charity and encouraging others to participate in acts of kindness. Last February they brought their music to Lexington-based Vision-Aid, a non-profit that helps enable, educate, and empower the visually impaired. The twins sang the inspirational ‘Fight Song’ at graduation. In October, two friends joined them in making another round of meals for the shelter.

The Twynphony Hopes Foundation, now a 501(c)(3) charity, was incorporated in March, 2021. “We wanted to formalize our work and keep track of it under one name,” Anya said.

They also wanted to expand their good works. In July, they suggested lunch donations to their karate instructor, Sensei Rocky DiRico who has been their teacher in his Arlington School of Kenpo Karate since the siblings were 4-years-old. After the Guptas did a presentation on charity, nine karate students worked with them to make sandwich bags for the House of Mercy.  “We were happy that we had a significant increase in the number of people providing support for those in need,” Zubin said.

The growth of good deeds

“I’ve always told my children that helping others is the most fulfilling thing a person can do,” said the twins’ mother, Anuja Das.In September, Anuja received an Epilepsy Foundation email requesting donations of clothing and related items for sale in their thrift stores. The twins went to work. A post on a Lexington community Facebook page urged people to declutter and bring their donations to the Guptas’ driveway. “The first donation arrived within a few days,” Anya said, “and we got between five and 10 bags a day from October through early November.”

The clothing drive was the biggest project that Zubin and Anya have undertaken, but it was just a step on the way.  On Dec. 12, the Twynphony Hopes founders are offering a Java computer programming class online. Tax-deductible fees are donations that will go to Vision-Aid. The program has already raised $140. Clarke Principal Despres, in his note to Twynphony Hopes, said, “What a great job you did with this clothing drive! …Thank you for modeling the spirit of giving!

”Perhaps most impressive is that the founders of Twynphony Hopes have only just entered their teens. They have only just begun to give.