From boots on the ground to brotherhood, this fraternity is all about service.
U.S. Navy veteran Gary Ammons is co-founder of Mu Beta Phi, also known as the Mighty BETA Kings-- an international fraternity for armed service members and veterans.
"We have men that just retired from the military or currently serve or work at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center that had the ability to help educate those veterans with gaining access to their benefits and also assistance that they needed," said Ammons.
The group's passion for defending the community, said Ammons, was intensified by its mission to help combat coronavirus. "The important part for us is just being able to help better the community," Ammons said. "We are professionals in that area. We live in a world of flux, we always have to maintain some type of flexibility. So for us, it was more of a learning curve on how we fit into the current state."
Peter Locklear, U.S. Navy service member and president of Hampton Roads chapter Seven City Kings, said the fraternity's efforts to extend a helping hand are more important now than ever-- including the Herculean effort to fight veteran homelessness, the Mighty Warriors mentorship program, support of military children, and community service projects. We've had a lot more people reach out to us, and... we try to help the community at large," said Locklear. "And it's a great honor to actually go out. There are different programs that we're working on now."
U.S. Navy service member and Seven City Kings Vice President Ty Rhodes said this fellowship of first responders is standing at the ready during the war against COVID-19. "Mu Beta Phi being at the front in the community, letting them know they're not alone, that we go through this struggle together, has seemed to help a lot of people... and it's also helped us," said Rhodes.
Learn more about the fraternity's service initiatives here, and visit the Seven City Kings on Facebook.