Xaiver Duckett is on a mission to lift kids and communities
With the express mission to enable children with critical life skills, Xaiver Duckett created “Humble Hustles,” a non-profit organization launched with the intent of giving back to the community.
Duckett’s prior lifestyle has always been relatively active. He went from attending Radford University to coaching for the Virginia Wolverines, to counseling at William Fleming High School, Roanoke Academy and Hurt Park. But regardless of his demanding schedule he always found time to serve the community.
“I would collect 50 coats and take them somewhere to give to kids or I would go to the park and hand out popsicles,” Duckett explained. “It was little stuff like that, that I was just doing sporadically.”
After much thought, Duckett decided to turn his efforts into an actual program instead of just doing it randomly.
What started off as spontaneous acts of kindness, soon manifested into a three-year-old organization that currently serves over 1,500 kids each year through back-to-school drives, coat-drives, and more.
Eventually Duckett left his job at Dominion Youth Services because he felt he wasn’t putting enough time into his newly formed organization.
“God always comes through and I think because I give so much, God is like “I got you no matter what,” Ducket said and admitted that some people questioned his choice to leave the conventional workforce.
Humble Hustle eventually broke off into four sub-groups: Humble Hikes, Pretty Humble, The #KeepGiving Initiatives and HMBLE+HSTLE Clothing.
Each sub-group follows a similar theme of ‘giving’ but has its own unique goal.
• Humble Hikes provides kids with the opportunity to explore wild life, “experience the world around them” and be mentored in a relaxed environment.
• Pretty Humbles provides gymnastics scholarships to young girls and teaches them important life skills such as financial literacy, entrepreneurship, fundraising through ‘empowerment Saturdays’ and educational trips.
• The #KeepGiving Initiatives include events that are dedicated to equipping kids with resources through the Winter Coat and Back-to-School give away.
• HMBLE+HSTLE Clothing provides individuals with high-end clothing brands to enable them to feel confident, while having an “humble mentality and hustler spirit.”
The non-profit organization earns money through local grants or community donations with“Village Grill” and Nathan Webster as their biggest sponsor.
Furthermore, while there isn’t a fee to participate, the leaders of the program strive to teach the young individuals to be tenacious and self-sufficient. Each year the children are required to do community service and when they go on trips they are expected to raise their own funds.
“It just caught on from there, Duckett stated “I was like, this is my humble hustle, I’m humble about it, no one knows I’m doing it. I’m just doing it out of the kindness of my heart but this is my hustle this is what I claim to be success.”
Just recently they received proceeds from Greg Addison’s “World Tour Hair and Fashion Show.” The program also won a UBU community service award March 2018.
Bria Hash, director of operations, helps lead ‘Pretty Humbles’ along with Eshae Brown and Eboni Harrington. Hash has been with the program for about a year and states that it helps keep her in tune with the importance of acting beyond herself as well as giving back to her community.
“I think Pretty Humbles is a very good reflection of Humble Hustles as a whole,” Hash said. “You know the tree by the fruit that it bears. Just from the fact that we really have our own mission you can tell it comes from good soil, great leadership and great vision.”
While Duckett is very pleased with how the program has advanced over the years, he is not content and wants to continue pushing it further.
“It’s an amazing feeling honestly because I know I can’t change the world, but I know if I can uplift one child, then it’ll make a difference,” Duckett concluded. “I’m just constantly trying to get my community to give back because giving really works and I found that out through all of my blessings. God always comes through.”
