COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – For the last 50 years, a group of men have been quietly doing a lot of good in Colorado Springs.

Meet the Rocky Mountain Ques.

“We are a group of college-educated men, we have all types of great occupations, and we are leaders,” said Brett Britton, a member of the organization. “We also have a lot of great men that stem from the military. We own businesses, we are fathers, we are husbands, we are businessmen. We take this collaboration of like-minded men and come together in one place.”

The group stems from a college fraternity, the Omega Psi Phis, but is so much more than that. The Colorado Springs chapter — known officially as the Xi Pis and collectively as the Rocky Mountain Ques — was founded in 1974 by nine charter members, including a former Tuskegee Airmen, with the purpose of continuing the Omega Psi Phis’ commitment to service in adulthood.

“What is unique about what our core of men do is that once we leave school, we continue the service that we raised our hand to do. So it doesn’t stop just with college,” Britton said. “As we move on as adults, we join or move into graduate chapters. Many of us may have served in undergraduate, but not all, and then undergraduates can move into graduate chapters.”

Some of the people who have joined the Rocky Mountain Ques weren’t even a part of the organization in college at all and came to it later in life!

“We have just continued to have more and more great men. They travel from elsewhere outside, they take on jobs here, they retire here, and they realize that their home is here and they come and see what we’re doing and be a part of it, and we just continue to grow,” Britton said.

And what they’re doing is making Colorado Springs a better place one, one act of service at a time. Whether it’s laying wreaths on veterans’ graves, mentoring teens in the court system who need intervention, hosting health fairs for the Black community, giving blood, or volunteering at local food pantries, when you see those men in purple and gold out and about, you know they’re up to good!

“We support things such as the African-American Youth Leadership Conference, the Economic Children of Color Summit. … We take on mentoring for kids that need assistance, need help, and need guidance. Giving out scholarships, visiting colleges. … And we support so many other things, such as Care and Share.”

Education in particular is a huge deal for the chapter. A lot of their work, including the many FUN-raisers they host during the year — golf tournaments, youth talent shows — goes right back towards funding scholarships and helping guide local kids towards higher education.

The White Out is the organization’s most recent fundraising event, held last weekend at a local club. It’s a big party open to any and everyone who wants to come, no Omega Psi Phi roots needed, with an entry fee at the door. That fee goes right back towards helping the causes dearest to these men’s hearts.

“We dressed in all white, white outfits, very spiffy if you would, and this particular event was more of a party, but the meaning behind it was not just to have fun, but to help us raise money to put back into our coffers so that we can have additional funds to do the things that we do out in the community,” Britton said. “There are donations that have to be given out, scholarships that have to be given out. We support people. If we have it within our budget, maybe we can go out and offer our time and value to somebody.”

“I‘ve been a supporter of the White Out for the past four years,” said Walt Johnson, who we spoke to at last weekend’s White Out celebration. “They raise money for scholarships and young students. I do it as a community service so I can help them help young people get to college, get educated, so they can be our future leaders. It’s very important to me to give back to young people, and this is one of the ways I like to do it.”

Over the years, the men of the Rocky Mountain Ques have received accolades for their work, including most recently, the international Social-Action Chapter of the Year!

“We’ve been recognized for our work locally, regionally, and internationally. We’ve even won a couple of awards in the city as well. It feels good to be recognized. But we don’t do it for the medal, we do it because this is what is unique to this service: We are supposed to give back to the community,” Britton said.

Read more about the Rocky Mountain Ques and their good work here!

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Colorado is on track to see fewer pedestrians killed in crashes this year after setting a record high in 2023, a change state and local officials say is an encouraging start — but just a start.

There was a 9% drop in traffic fatalities in the first half of 2024 compared to the same time last year, the Colorado Department of Transportation announced Thursday.

State transportation officials recorded 294 traffic fatalities between Jan. 1 and June 30 and saw the biggest decrease in pedestrian deaths, with 47 pedestrians killed in crashes so far this year. That marks a 24% decrease from the first half of 2023.

Colorado saw a record high of 131 pedestrians killed in crashes in 2022, 62 of whom died in the first half of the year.

“We’re seeing less risky behavior on our roadways leading to fewer fatalities,” CDOT spokesperson Sam Cole said Thursday. “Enforcement, engineering improvements and traffic safety awareness are driving down traffic deaths, but we still have a long way to go.”

State data shows a drop in traffic deaths across the board, including 23% fewer child and teen crash deaths, 16% fewer impaired driving deaths and 6% fewer unbuckled crash deaths. There have been three bicyclists killed in crashes compared to eight at this time in 2023.

Denver Streets Partnership Executive Director Jill Locantore said while she wasn’t ready to get out the pom-poms, the state data is a good sign.

“We’re always cautious with just one year’s or a partial year’s worth of data, whether that truly is a trend or if it was a minor variation or will go back up again,” Locantore said.

Denver city officials tracked 30 traffic deaths in the first half of the year compared to 41 deaths in the first half of 2023, according to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

City officials have been working to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries through the Vision Zero initiative since 2016, including recent projects on North Federal Boulevard, West Colfax Avenue and Green Valley Ranch Boulevard.

“Eight years after the city first committed to Vision Zero, we’re going to start seeing enough of an aggregate change in street design that it’s possible we’re starting to see a bend in the curve,” Locantore said.

One example is a new bikeway and “traffic calming” infrastructure on streets like Broadway, Locantore said.

“Those are the kinds of changes that make the streets safer for everyone, not just people on bikes, and what we want to see on more big arterial streets like Broadway,” she said.

Another factor in reducing traffic deaths is increasing police enforcement, Cole said.

Colorado State Patrol troopers have used regular patrols as well as surge operations in high-crash areas like Interstate 25, U.S. 36 and Federal Boulevard to try to prevent crashes, said Trooper Sherri Mendez.

“We want to make it to where there’s zero traffic fatalities, and we’re going to keep proceeding like this until it gets to zero,” Mendez said.

State officials will continue leaning on evidence-based approaches to reduce the number of people who die in crashes every year, from getting people to the hospital faster after a crash to putting in more rumble strips, Cole said.

“This is really encouraging and an indication that some of those risky driving behaviors people adopted during the pandemic are finally starting to wane,” he said.

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Originally Published: July 26, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.