Sometimes, Sharing Important Health Information Starts from Within

It is often said that what you don't know can't hurt you. But not when it comes to your health. It's what you don't know that can bring you down before you can bat an eye. That was the upshot of the Prostate Cancer Awareness Seminar that Gamma Pi's Health Initiatives Committee sponsored for chapter members on Saturday, September 28.

Gamma Pi's Bro. William Battle, an expert in health education, partnered with Health Initiatives, led by Bro. Dr. Quentin Wilson, to organize the seminar through his company Emmanual Health Education. Bro. Battle founded and remains CEO of the company. In a special gesture, the company funded PSA testing vouchers for all 1213Brothers attending  the Saturday session.

In two hours, Brothers received a lifetime's worth of valuable information about prostate health, including cancer, which is one of the biggest killers of Black men.  And the information wasn't plucked from some website off the Internet. The information was professionally presented by a board-certified practicing urologist, Dr. Michael Bivins, from Birmingham, Alabama, along with a recent local prostate cancer survivor, Bro. Euvon Jones, who amplified the medical information with his own personal story of climbing back to health from a Stage IV prostate cancer diagnosis in 2011.

Bro. Battle 

Dr. Bivins did an excellent job of talking in plain language that Brothers could understand. He focused on treatment options with an emphasis on clinical trials and newer methods like immunotherapy, which uses the body's immune system to attack cancer cells. In addition he mentioned robotic surgery, radiation and chemotherapy among a range of options. "It's not that Black men have worse cancers that are driving disparities. It's just that by time we get it, it's at a worse stage," he said. "I can't prevent you from getting cancer. But what we try to prevent is cancer spreading," known scientifically as metastasis.

Bro. Jones used his emotional story to encourage Brothers to play an active role in managing their prostate situations, especially as they age and to keep check on their PSA scores  for signs of trouble. His lesson to the Brothers was that he did not follow the advice he now gives out -- which was almost too late for him. He is blessed to be alive today after a PSA score of 398! "My story is one you don't want to follow even before I was diagnosed." Bro. Jones' point is that he was too busy to regularly visit doctors before his diagnosis because he worked out and felt in good shape and always thought he was well.

Bro. Basileus Fields(r) with
 Bro. Dr. Wilson and Dr. Bivins

Bro. Basileus Eric Fields reminded the Brothers to share the information outside the building after the seminar.  A handful of Brothers who successfully battled prostate cancer took the opportunity to share their experiences.

Brothers asked several interesting questions: Does diet play a role in cancer risk? What is the benefit of being in a clinical trail if you end up getting the placebo? What about the PHI and other newer tests? When does a PSA score become concerning?

About 50 chapter members and guest Omega men attended. Brothers followed the seminar with a catered fellowship luncheon.

Photos by Bro. George DuBose

Bros offered comments, asked questions

Dr. Bivins explains and informs 

Bro. Jones tells his story 

All eyes and ears soaking up the information

The food line was long...

Gamma Pi's Project ENRICH College Prep Program Begins Its First Full Year In-Person Since the Pandemic

As students across the area gear up for the new academic year, Gamma Pi Chapter Project ENRICH is set to resume its college preparatory program with all in-person sessions for the first time since the pandemic. The program will kick off its new year on Saturday, October 12, at 9 a.m. with an opening ceremony at the National Wildlife Visitors Center off Powder Mill Road in Laurel, MD.

Registration is currently open, with parents and students able to sign up online at https://www.projectenrich.org/registration.html. Aside from a $25 registration fee, the program is offered at no cost.

“We’ve put together a robust program that not only addresses academic achievement but also emphasizes personal and professional development,” said Bro. Dr. George R. Montgomery, the newly appointed chairman of Project ENRICH.

Bro. Chairman George Montgomery

The program, which serves high school students from grades 9 through 12, requires participants to remain engaged through their senior year and graduation. To date, 914 students have completed Project ENRICH over its more than 40-year history, with every graduate earning college admission and collectively securing $1.5 million in scholarships. Last year's senior class of four were awarded $377,000 in total scholarships.

Monthly sessions are held on the first or second Saturday at the Wildlife Center, where students participate in workshops, receive guidance on scholarships and financial aid, and hear from program alumni and visiting college representatives. The program also provides expert advice on entrance exams and college applications.

For more information, visit www.projectenrich.org.

In case you missed it, highlights from our Scholarship Banquet held in May can be revisited  online: Scholarship Banquet.

The Super Chapter Loses Another Super Brother - a Gamma Pi Icon, Bro. Steven Walls

Brothers in Gamma Pi Chapter are still struggling to absorb some shocking and sobering news going into the weekend of August 2. When we lose a key leader, especially someone who has made long-term contributions, we talk about how a sturdy tree of Omega has fallen. In this case, the sudden loss of Bro. Steven Walls, the only Gamma Pi member to serve as Basileus during two different eras, is about the loss of a Brother who is as sturdy a tree in Omega as they come. Bro. Walls passed way unexpectedly on Friday, August 2. Brothers will be grieving and remembering for a very long time. Among those grieving is his own blood-brother, Bro. Lovell Walls, who is a Gamma Pi chapter member. 

Bro. Steven Walls most recently served as Basileus during back-to-back terms in 2019-20 and 2020-21. His first service as Basileus was 1998-2000. He was the first Gamma Pi-initiated Brother to become Basileus of The Super Chapter. To date, no other member in the chapter's 50-year history (March 5, 1973) has served in the Basileus role for a second separate stint covering more than two decades after the first go-round. Bro. Timothy McIntosh, a charter member and the first Gamma Pi Basileus, came back for a second stint in the next decade after his 1973-74 initial service.

Bro. Walls (left) is interviewed
on local TV in June 2020

While Bro. Walls was often the one leading the Omega Memorial Services for departed Brothers, was the first-choice soloist when it came time for Brothers to sing Omega Dear, was THE resident historian and parliamentarian for Gamma Pi Chapter and was all knowing about every little detail of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. as a rabid student of Omega history (he probably knew the Social Security numbers of each of the Founders), he will also be remembered for his dedication to seeing to it that Gamma Pi kept social action on the front burner under his leadership. He never wavered. He also served at the District and international levels.

Bro. Walls orchestrated one of Gamma Pi's most successful and farthest-reaching social action projects in chapter history just several years ago. In 2020 at the outset of the global pandemic when lockdowns began, Bro. Walls set up a months-long "machine-like" assembly line food preparation and delivery service led and executed by Gamma Pi along with some Brothers who came to help from other chapters. Over the course of more than a year, following his vision, The Super Chapter distributed free food packages weekly to more than 80,000 Prince George's County families suffering financially from the impact of the pandemic, as many found themselves out of work or unable to go out and shop for themselves due to the public heath risk.

During the food drives that lasted beyond 2021, Bro. Walls risked his own health and safety by donning a cloth mask and showing up every week at whatever school or church Gamma Pi was distributing packages. In between, he spent hours on the phone pulling people together across the community, from politicians to pastors to nonprofit partners. Because of the success and reach of the food drives, Gamma Pi Chapter was named the Large Graduate Chapter of the Year for the 2019-2020 Fraternity Year for the entire Second District. The chapter's work attracted local TV coverage. Bro. Walls was interviewed on-air during a weekend food giveaway at DeMatha High School in 2020 (see photo above) and also in 2021 when Gamma Pi held a one-year anniversary food drive event in District Heights (link below). 

The complete food giveaway project was captured in articles and photos in the chapter's annual Second District Achievement Week scrapbook. The aforementioned Chapter of the Year award was presented to him at the 2021 Second District Conference in Pittsburgh. Bro. then-Basileus Walls also used the chapter's own Community UPLIFT TV show in June 2021, broadcast on Comcast and Verizon FiOS, to promote the food drives and also announce that the chapter had won the prestigious award.

Below are links to both TV news interviews from 2021. In the top interview, Bro. Walls, sadly, in the interview, pays public respects to another stalwart chapter member who Gamma Pi had just experienced the sudden loss of, in the person of Bro. William "364" Reese. During COVID, the chapter's Community UPLIFT show was filmed via Zoom from home. The studio was closed during the two years Bro. Walls served as Basileus.

Finally, as we all look back at all the leadership achievements and his every good-natured demeanor with the Brothers, there is one takeaway from Bro. Walls that all of Gamma Pi will remember about him as the days and years go by. At every committee meeting, every chapter meeting, and at every chapter or Fraternity activity, when he stood up to talk, whether he was presenting a report, answering a question or asking a question about Fraternity business, he prefaced every statement and remark and answer with, "Giving thanks and honor to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." That was his signature tagline. He would not make his business point until he made that point. He's probably already hard at work for The Supreme Basileus. You can bet he's set up the agenda for the next Omega Chapter meeting.

 Community UPLIFT June 2021 broadcast

Fox 5 TV interview about Gamma Pi's pandemic food drives

Gamma Pi Shows Local Seniors Some Love -- Like No Others Can

If you had asked one of the seniors who attended Saturday’s Gamma Pi Chapter Seniors banquet what was the best part of the afternoon festivities, they would have had a very difficult time making a decision. Some might have said it was the food. No question, hands down, it was another extraordinary down-home Southern style meal purchased and prepared by the Brothers. Others might have said it was the music. Again, no question, as the Gamma Pi Chorale brought down the house in a way that brought to mind some of the great gospel groups of all time. And to some, the best part of the event was the “name that tune” singing game led by energetic stand-in emcee Bro. George Montgomery. And who could not feel the overwhelming spirit from the powerful delivery of The Word by Gamma Pi Chaplain Bro. Rev. Brian King, expounding on the subject ”thorny business?” Frankly, if there was one thing all the attendees agreed on it was that Gamma Pi – the Super Chapter, the ”Ques” – topped itself yet again for another annual seniors banquet.

“It was awesome.” “We had so much fun.”  “I love the male chorus. They sound better than the men at my church!" "I can't wait to come back next year.” This is what was heard from several seniors while they boarded the charter motor coach home after the banquet. Actually, they did not want to leave.

In typical Gamma Pi fashion, Brothers made it look easy on Saturday at Gethsemane United Methodist Church. The entire event, under the planning and direction of Bro Sheku Alieu and his crew, went very smoothly, like clockwork, from the food preparation to the restaurant-style delivery of the piping hot meals to seniors at their tables, to the quality and organization of the entire spiritual and entertainment program. It was Gamma Pi first class -- all the way.

For Gamma Pi Chapter, this is nothing new. Gamma Pi never goes halfway on anything. When it comes to our seniors in Prince George’s County, the Brothers give extra effort. The annual summer banquet is just one of several activities Gamma Pi organizes for seniors – quarterly birthday celebrations, an outdoor cookout, and social events like paint ‘n sip night. The Super Chapter covers the whole county from north to south, from east to west, focusing mainly on pockets of distress wedged in and around the classy neighborhoods of what has become a prosperous enclave for African Americans. Gamma Pi has served residents of all ages all over Prince George's County through five decades. Gamma Pi is Prince George's County.

This year’s senior banquet was the largest ever. It is one of the most popular social action events each year. Typically about 100 seniors attend the event, with many of them traveling by chartered bus. But this year there was absolutely “no more room at the inn” as every single seat in the house was taken and no more extra chairs could be added to the long rows of table.

One thing about Gamma Pi's seniors banquet.  There is no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen. The kitchen was crowded with Brothers at times -- maybe even packed -- but nobody was standing around.  Brothers each had a role to play and they knew exactly what to do and when and how. It showed in how fast the seniors were served.

It was a great way for Gamma Pi to start the summer for some of the most overlooked and forgotten people in our community -- our elderly citizens. For them, seeing the Gamma Pi Ques coming down the street is more exciting than seeing Santa Clause coming down the chimney on Christmas Day. Only the Super Chapter...the one and only...   

(Photos from Bro. Terance Hare)

WATCH THE GAMMA PI CHORALE BELOW:

God Is Doing Something Wonderful In Me

Show Me The Way

CATCH BRO. REV. BRIAN KING'S SPIRIT-FILLED SERMON  BELOW:

"Thorny Business" (excerpt): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zumq8hhtBm8