Kunal Botla — my choice for Planning Board in the Monday, March 2, town election — was just a freshman in high school when the deadly Covid-19 pandemic descended on the world and shut everything down. Kunal, who was then 14 years old, looked at the situation and wondered what he could do to help. Schools were closing and turning to virtual lessons— which meant that any student who could not afford a home computer was out of luck. 

Kunal jumped into the fray.

He and a friend founded Project Boom and operated it for the next two years. To save money, Kunal learned how to prepare the legal filings himself and successfully established Project Boom as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. He set up a website through which monetary donations could be accepted and through which people could offer and request a computer. He identified area start-ups and cold-emailed their CEOs and CFOs, asking them if they had any used computers to donate. He raised thousands of dollars, and with the money, he and a team of volunteers purchased materials and refurbished some 200 computers at about $30 to $40 a pop. They then shipped them free-of-charge to students in need, many of whose teachers had sought assistance on their behalf through Project Boom’s website. The reach of Project Boom was international.

At the height of the operation, dozens of computers and parts were being dropped on his family’s doorstep. Kunal even managed to procure a special computer for a design student.

Project Boom provided computers to schools, community centers, and homeless centers, according to the publication INK. In 2020, he told the Lexington Minuteman, “Most of what I’ve learned through computers is just by having access to one. I want to give people the same opportunity, to have access and be able to learn those things like I did.”

Now in college, Kunal is in his second term serving on the town’s Transportation Advisory Committee — he’s chair, leading adults considerably older than he is — and he is in his first term on Town Meeting with a stellar attendance record. We need a public servant on the Planning Board with Kunal’s vision, heart, intelligence, and follow-through. Please learn more about Kunal at https://votekunal.com/ and join me in voting for Kunal on Monday, March 2. Thank you!

Michael Martignetti, Precinct 3 Town Meeting Member

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