Kappas
This Kappa Alpha Psi Brother Is Helping the Children of New Orleans One Backpack at a Time
When people join Black fraternities and sororities they take oaths to serve the community and the people around them and Kappa Alpha Psi member Xavier J. Biles is a perfect example of this in action.
Biles, a Fall 2013 initiate of the Kappa Alpha Psi’s Gamma Gamma Chapter at Talladega College, is currently a graduate student a Xavier University of Louisiana. After working with students in New Orleans and coming across friends who were parents of students and did not have the funds to buy adequate school supplies for their children, Biles saw that there was an opportunity to make an impact, so in true Nupe fashion, he made an impact.
“Growing up on the west side of Chicago was very challenging as I too faced these same struggles,” Biles told Watch The Yard.
Biles teamed up with Lariana Varnado, a Pre-Med major at Xavier and created a backpack drive to help the low-income kids in New Orleans who reminded him of himself as a child. The two gathered over 25 sponsors and 30 volunteers and gave away over 200 backpacks full of school supplies to neighborhood kids and created a whole event out of it that included a climbing wall, face paint, and a photo booth.
The two gathered over 25 sponsors and 30 volunteers and gave away over 200 backpacks full of school supplies to neighborhood kids and created a whole event out of it that included a climbing wall, face paint, and a photo booth.
This year Xaiver’s, The Dream Foundation is planning to double its size and impact. As the founder of the Crescent City Greek Fest, Xavier will team up with fellow Black greeks to provide even more assistance to these children.
“Last year we didn’t have enough backpacks but this year we are aiming to support 500 kids in need of school supplies to take a burden off of their parents and giving their children a fun-filled day,” he told us in an interview.
We at Watch The Yard stand behind this brother and his cause. He saw a problem and fixed it. It is that kind of pragmatism that our community needs and we are proud to support him in his endeavors to help the children of New Orleans achieve.