Gamma Pi Birthday Bashes: Helping Senior Citizens Celebrate Their Blessed Years of Life

Brothers address seniors during festivities

Article and Photos by Bro. Ruddy Gainer

On Wednesday, December 10, 2014 the Brothers of Gamma Pi joined the "seasoned citizens" at Windsor Crossing in Suitland, Md. to take part in the quarterly Senior Citizen's  Birthday Bash Party.  This was the last Senior Birthday party for 2014 and the holiday spirit was all around as old school Christmas tunes filled the air.  There were plenty of seniors on hand to celebrate the event.

The celebration began with each of the seniors sharing the things that they were thankful for this holiday season.  The seniors shared several touching stories about there lives. One person thanked God for seeing an amazing 95 years of life. Another person was thankful for significant improvements in her health.

Making sure the seniors are having fun

Each of the seniors thanked the Brothers of Gamma Pi for the fun and fellowship they receive from this quarterly event. When the seniors finished giving thanks, it was time to move on to ice cream and cake as the Brothers sang Happy Birthday to them. 

The next session of the event was one of the seniors favorite activities of playing Bingo.  The brothers provided Christmas baskets and cash as prizes for the bingo winners. The event concluded with Brother Anthony Kelly leading a heartfelt prayer of thanks for the holiday season. The next Senior Birthday party is planned for March 2015.

Que Kidz Dayz Program Excites Local Youth with Visit to African American Civil War Museum

By Brother Ken Jones

Gamma Pi Brothers pose with students outside museum

On Saturday, November 15, the Brothers of Gamma Pi had the pleasure of hosting the Kids from Kentland at the African American Civil War Museum in Washington, DC.

It was a brisk morning and arriving at the museum was a site to see. From the big black gates that welcome you in at the entrance to the pictures that lead down the sidewalk to doors of the museum. You get the feel of history just walking into the museum. The kids were full of questions from the pictures they saw. The staff of the museum were grateful for the excitement from the students.

The staff showed a brief presentation, which introduced the museum and set the exploratory track for the day. After the presentation there was a scavenger hunt that the museum staff sent the students on. The students were sent out to find some very interesting answers hidden in the museums articles, videos, and exhibits. The excitement continued to build as the students began to find the answers to the questions given. 

All the chapter members and the youth

The Brothers of Gamma Pi served as group leaders while going through the museum with the students. Once the scavenger hunt was completed the museum staff read through the gathered answers to see what the groups had found. Every group did a good job and were very happy with their success.

As we took a break to eat lunch the students continued to ask the museum staff very good questions.  Once the mind is stimulated there is no telling where that will lead. It was once said that “the most precious thing you can give anyone is your time”, well if this field trip is any indication of that, this was time well spent

Who knows, we may get our next great historian out of the kids went spent time with today. We must continue to spend time with as many students as we can, after all, they are our leaders of tomorrow.

As we left the museum and headed to the statue of African American Soldiers, across the street from the museum it was evident that the museum had excited the students to find out more about the Civil War period and know that there were African American soldiers that helped win the war for the Union. Finding out the truth about the Civil War really felt good, since most classrooms of the past only taught us from another point of view. The students were glad to hear that their ancestors fought for their freedom as well. May God bless the students and the Brothers that continue to lead them.

Photos below from Brothers Kevin Greenwood and Chris Edwards
More photos available here)

Bro. Tony Kelly shows artifacts to kids 

Museum entrance

Youth listening attentively