Every year, for many years now, during the Christmas season, Shaquille O’Neal does amazing deeds for the less fortunate and this year wasn’t any exception. Shaq spends these days surrounded by children and showered them with gifts and attention.
He outdid himself this year and every year takes his Santa Claus responsibilities more seriously. He sticks to the holiday tradition of the Shaq-a-Clause project strictly and also has a policy on gift-giving, i.e., he never accepts gifts and says that Santa doesn’t receive gifts.
Shaq Never Forgets Where He Came From
Despite his immense success and wealth, Shaq perfectly knows how it feels to wake up on Christmas day without a single gift and this is something he doesn’t want other kids to go through.
His mom was a hard-working woman and his dad was a drill sergeant.
Although they had little, they taught him the importance of giving back and helping the less fortunate. For this Christmas, he called his friend from Nintendo Switch and ordered 1000 Switches and 1000 PS5s.
He also went to Walmart and purchased bikes. He donated the gifts to a small elementary school in McDonough Georgia and the children were happy, excited, and some were even crying from joy.
Shaq says that this is what it’s all about.
Shaq’s Humble Giving Initiative
Shaq doesn’t like to talk about his acts of kindness too much unless they’re already known to the public.
He says that this is something he doesn’t do for the glory or for the applause, but to help the less fortunate and show them kindness and love. It’s spontaneous and he does it from his heart.
One time, he walked into a jewelry store and saw a blue-collar man trying to purchase a ring for his girlfriend and offered to pay it for him.
When the story came out, Shaq said that the most expensive thing he bought for a stranger was furniture for his house.
For him, it was important seeing the smile on that grandma’s face and he’s happy he could do it. He’s a man, a myth, a legend, don’t you agree?
Sources: