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Giving spirit of twin 6-year-olds turns 'pay it forward' into 'party on'

 
Twins Emma and Sarah Gemunder, 6, present Sister Una Hyman Brown of Exciting Faith Alive Church with Birthday-In-A-Box kits.
Twins Emma and Sarah Gemunder, 6, present Sister Una Hyman Brown of Exciting Faith Alive Church with Birthday-In-A-Box kits.
Published Aug. 18, 2017

TAMPA — Twins Emma and Sarah Gemunder, who insist they are not 6 but 6-and-three-quarters years old, are learning at a young age to care about other less fortunate children.

For the past few weeks they have been helping their mother and others at Tampa Jewish Family Services distribute 29 large Birthday-in-a-Box gifts filled with birthday cake makings and assorted party decorations.

The recipients are organizations serving needy children and families, as well as individual families participating in the agency's Community Food Bank.

The colorful streamers, party hats, party gifts, cake mixes and cans of frosting were collected by the girls at their last birthday party.

Friends, classmates and family members attending the party were asked to donate the party items instead of giving them personal gift-wrapped toys and clothing.

In the months after their Oct. 22 birthday party, Emma and Sarah carefully filled cake boxes donated by Sam's Club with the party items.

The boxes were covered with crayon drawings and birthday messages created by the girls and their party guests.

Girls' boxes, of course, had to have the most colorful cakes and frosting. Boys' boxes were suitably colored, as well.

Sarah said picking out the cake was her favorite task, while Emma said she liked choosing a matching frosting.

At their age, the girls are naturally shy, but their mother, Beth Gemunder, is quick to tell how they became involved in good works.

"I was writing donation letters for Family Services one day and Emma said, 'Mommy, I think I would like to get one of those letters,'" Beth said. "I told her that would mean she would have to give money, so she took coins out of her Tzedakh (savings) box and said she wanted to help others. Sarah did the same thing."

Michael Barnett, the agency's CEO, said the girls' $3 was added to other donations supporting Food Bank, psychotherapy, financial assistance and other family programs.

"It was really neat," Barnett said.

Beth, who was recently elected president of Tampa Jewish Family Services, said she has always stressed to her children the importance of giving to others.

Tampa Jewish Family Services provides social services to 14,000 people of all faiths in Hillsborough County and provides food to 650 families each month.

The agency also works closely with other non-profit and government agencies in the county.

Sister Una Hyman-Brown of the Exciting Faith Alive Church in Tampa already has passed out some of the dozen birthday boxes she received.

She said she did not know what to expect when told about the birthday boxes and now thinks they are a "wow" idea.

"A lot of times parents don't have money to buy a cake or have a party for their kids," Hyman-Brown said. "Our parents were really excited."

Contact Sheila Mullane Estrada at hillsnews@tampabay.com.