Today, we will be presenting Vocational Awards to four Real Life Heroes -- people who have made it their life's mission to serve humanity without looking for recognition or glory. RCPC has a tradition of finding such people with service achievement that are similar to Rotary -- 'Service Above Self'. So do join us today to felicitate these silent workers and hear about their service to humanity. We will meet at Poona Club - Conference Hall No. 1, at 6.30 pm. Brief profile of the four Heroes: Dr. Parikshit Gogate, MBBS, MS(Opth), DNB, FRCS, M.Sc. Dr. Parikshit Gogate has done his MBBS from B.J. Medical in 1992, M.S. (Ophthalmology) with gold medal from Govt. Medical College, Miraj in 1997, DNB (Ophthalmology) in 1998; FRCS from Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh and MSc (Community Eye Health) with distinction from International Centre for Eye Health, Institute of Ophthalmology, London, in 2001. He worked with Poona Blind Men’s Association and H. V. Desai Eye Hospital from 1998-2009, heading the pediatric ophthalmology and community ophthalmology departments. He is in private practice since 2010, Trustee of Community Eye Care Foundation, Pune; Faculty at D. Y. Patil Medical College, Pimpri since June 2012and the Medical Director of Atharva Netralaya Pvt Ltd,, since May 2013. Dr. Parikshit was the sub-editor, Indian Journal of Ophthalmology 2012-2017, Member West zone, Academic and Research Committee, All India Ophthalmology Society (2014-17), Chairperson Scientific Committee, Maharashtra Ophthalmology Society (2016-18) and now its incoming President. He is the Secretary, International Society of Geographic and Epidemiologic Ophthalmology (2014) and the International Society of Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgeons (2012-2019). Dr. Gogate has been doing yeoman service in providing eyecare to the underprivileged and needy. He has recently been awarded a Certificate of Recognition by the American Society of Cataract and Refractory Surgery Foundation for his untiring efforts to provide humanitarian eye care in the area of cataract blindness. He has also been nominated for the 2020 Chang Humanitarian Mr. Vinod Bodhankar A multi-faceted personality, Mr. Vinod Bodhankar is a Kundalini Yoga Teacher and Reiki Grandmaster, writer, poet, publisher and documentary maker, He is a Social, Spiritual, Environmental and Educational Activist, Motivational-Expert in ensuring people’s participation. He has done commendable work as an environmentalist, and is the co-founder and Joint Director of TAA-Sagarmitra Abhiyaan. That has provided training to 171 schools and 1,44,000 students in preventing plastic pollution in Pune City. TAA-Sagarmitra is KNOWLEDGE PARTNER with Kolhapur, Sholapur, Pune and Jalgaon Municipal Corporations... They trained 1800 high school principals and 3600 high school teachers. In 4 years 40,000 Sagarmitra Captains will be trained in these 4 cities to monitor and lead more than 2 million Sagarmitra Cadets. He is the Chief Convener, Jalbiradari Maharashtra – rejuvenation of rivers Bhima and Agrani and co-convener, ‘Samagra Krishna Khore Kutumb’ for Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and AP. He is the Founder-Director of ‘VISHWASANSKRUTI ASHRAM’ at Tulapur-on-Indrayani, where he is a NAMASH-YOGA Teacher - for ‘Ethical Leadership Training’, and Reiki Grandmaster – for ‘Cosmo Sapiens Research’. For his outstanding work in water conservation and river rejuvenation, he has received a plethora of awards at the State and National level. His Goal for 2020 is to get Knowledge Partnerships with Dharwad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Agartala, Kalyan, Dombiwali, Thane, Vizagapatnam, Ahmednagar and dozens more Ms Preeti Damle A highly qualified lady, with two MBAs and a PG Diploma in Hospital Management, Preeti Damle worked as the Head of the Patient Care Unit at the Pune Institute of Neurology, before joining Samave Dana in 2003. She has been the CEO of this NGO since 2009. The Mission of Samavedana is to bring essential health care to the under privileged... They work in three areas of health care – Prevention, Treatment and Healthcare Education. The organization has provided Financial Aid to over 1400 persons to date, screened over 18000 individuals, and have educated 10500 school children in Health Care. The have started a Mobile Clinic since 2017. Preeti is an avid reader and loves to travel. She did a ‘Bharat Parikrama’ in Nov-Dec last year, driving over 8400 km in her Wagon-R with her daughter Dr. Amol Waghmare A resident of Falode, Post: Taleghar, Taluka, Ambegaon, Dr. Amol Waghmare is a Social Worker. After obtaining his MA in Marathi, he did MA in Social Science and then completed his Doctorate. He has started a Library in the Adivasi Village of Falode, a self-employment scheme for the unemployed youth of Bhima Shankar, He has conducted Adult Literacy campaign in the Western Adivasi Region and arranged Health Camps in the Tribal] areas.. His Adult Literacy Campaign in the area has inspired our PE Rtn Ajay Dubey and Rtn Rooma Dubey to take this as their preferred project and donate generously to this project. Dr. Waghmare has authored the books: “Adivasi – Kaal, Aaj ani Udya”, “Mavli Boli Va Mahadev Koli Samaj jivan”. He has also published booklets on the Employment Guarantee Schemes and Adult Literacy. He has been honoured with State Level Awards and likes to travel, and write Folk Songs.