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The name of Dr Ghazal Srinivas does not need an introduction and with each passing day, he has been globe trotting and that too with a mission. This time, Ghazal was seen far away in America and the city happened to be Denver in Colorado state.
He was one of the celebrity guests of the fund raising event organized by the Indo- American Eye Care Organization. This was for the Pushpagiri eye hospital and Ghazal made his presence felt not only with his voice but also with a handsome donation.
He also became the highlight of the evening with his songs that took the audience down the memory lane of nostalgia and childhood memories. That also resulted in fund raising. Let us see how all this happened.
Indo-American Eye Care Organization (IAEO) has organized the 2nd bi-annual fundraising event in Denver, Colorado on 24th October with a lot of fan fare, raising an amount of $120,000, with North America Telugu Society (NATS) being the biggest donor. The first fundraising event in Detroit, Michigan in 2007 raised about $110,000. Several major supporters have participated in this memorable evening.
The evening was started at 5:00pm with a social hour, where all the guests had some time to chat and get to know each other. The event was started at 7:15pm in the grand ballroom decorated appropriately, with the Indian and American national anthems by kids. IAEO General Secretary Mr.Sridhar Talanki, Joint Secretary Mr. Srinivas Cheela and Colorado Telugu Association president Mr.Sankar Gunturu have welcomed the crowd. The chief guest Ms.Cary Kennedy, Treasurer of Colorado state praised all the efforts and mission behind the fundraising program, and appreciated the noble cause that IAEO is serving for. A video clip addressed by actress Jaya Sudha with her best wishes was played. Mr.Nadendla Manohar, Honorable Deputy Speaker of AP State Assembly in his key note speech congratulated Mrs. Vanita Reddy and team for their efforts in taking eye care to rural areas to address the preventable blindness and assured the support from the government of Andhra Pradesh. Tollywood Hero Mr.Raja has been invited for the event as a special guest, who shared heart warming story, and how it made him to contribute for the charity. President of IAEO Mrs. Vanita Reddy has thanked the people from all parts of the country to attend this event, anticipated for their best support for the endeavor. Mr. Ravi Madala, NATS president, Mr. Iftekhar Shareef, Mr. Rao Achanta, Dr. Gopal Reddy Gade, Mr. Sudhakar Perkari were among the distinguished guests who came from all parts of the country. It was great cheer to the crowd when the famous knee surgeon Dr.AV Gurava Reddy from Sunshine Hospitals of Hyderabad addressed the crowd, who flew from the other side of the globe, stayed in Denver for 10 hours, just to participate in the event. Ghazal Maestro Dr. Ghazal Srinivas made a remarkable speech urging the importance of giving sight to someone needy. He contributed $2000 himself, and raised $1000 from the people in Afghanistan where he recently visited to spread the mission of peace. Of all the donations in the evening, the highest contributor is North America Telugu Society (NATS) with its outstanding donation of sponsoring 10 village eye camps and 10 schools, and matching contributions, all together totals to more than $40,000.
There were extraordinary performances from the local talented schools Sai Meghna Dance School and Laya Dance Academy. An exciting music concert by the Tollywood music director Mr.Nihal and the singer Ms.Sudhamayi made the evening very vibrant. The highlight of the evening was the Ghazal concert by Maestro Dr.Ghazal Srinivas. This just took everyone in the hall to visit their native place and reminded of their childhood memories.
All the artists and guests were felicitated. It was well organized event by the whole team. The fundraising part was greatly cheerlead by several community leaders and distinguished guests. Mr.Sam Thomas, Ms. Prathyusha Apparasu, Mr.Krishna Kunapuli and Mrs. Priya Gaddipati have emceed whole event very ably. Mrs.Vanita has taken a major role during the fundraising part to motivate the crowd and get the bar raise high. Mr.Sridhar Ponnapalli gave a vote of thanks.
IAEO was formed in 2006 to provide total Eye Care in India, and a major supporter of Pushpagiri Vitreo Retina Institute (PVRI) in Secunderabad, India. The mission is to provide quality eye care to every one and help prevent blindness through awareness, education and care by organizing the eye camps in rural villages and schools. For more information about the event, and about the organization, visit http://www.indoamericaneyecare.org.
