The Indian Americans for Burlington hosted a volunteer appreciation and town election candidate meet and greet on March 21, 2021. Members from the Indian American community had a chance to interact with the various candidates virtually. 

The event was moderated by Arun Saigal who was raised in Burlington. Arun is the CEO of Thunkable, a startup that provides a no-code mobile-app building tool. The event beautifully intertwined volunteer appreciation with the introduction of the election candidates. Arun presented fun facts about the town of Burlington. “Burlington calls itself the town “Where technology goes to work. Growing up I saw all the tech companies around me and was inspired by that,” said Saigal. He recounted the history of Burlington and shared his own experience growing up in Burlington and how it shaped his life and career. 

During the Pandemic IAB was very actively engaged with various organizations in town to present a variety of events. IAB hosted a week long virtual Diwali celebration that replaced the in-person flagship Diwali on the commons event. Workshops, competitions, virtual story-telling and other events helped educate and entertain the residents of Burlington on Indian culture. IAB also held a food drive and donated to People Helping People. In addition to the hard work of the committee members of IAB including Gini Pookotil, Sheetal Bhammar, Deepa Agrawal, Anil Saigal, Tanu Basu, Meenu Jethra, Indra Deb, Khushboo Goel  and Swetha Mathur. The range of activities was made possible with the help of volunteers Mona Mitra, Aparna Balaji, Sunayana Kachroo, Madhuparna Sen, Bhumika Patel, Ranjani Saigal, Moumita Banerjee, Devika Dhavan, Kabil, Sudakshina, Tamana, Pooja Singla, Neil Bhammar, Amanda Hogue-Lavalle, Dipiti Nagraj, Raksha Soni, Priyanki Taylor and Trinolka Basu.

Candidates Shari Ellis, Michael Runyan, Amy Warfield, Adam Senesi, David Woodilla, Mimi Bix-Hylan, Tammy Hall, Eileen Sickler, Nancy Bonassera, Christine Kim, Martha Simon,Nicci Kadilak, Joanne Frustaci and Joe Morandi presented their platforms at the events and answered questions. Questions ranged from policy questions, questions on understanding how the town government works, lack of side walks in certain precincts, distribution of federal funds, and may more. 

The event ended with a vote of thanks by the President, Shital Bhammar. It was a very informative event and helped a wonderful camaraderie between the town election candidates and the Indian American community who are there to serve the town.