Shaq-a-Claus beat Santa to one Georgia city. Shaquille O’Neal was in South Fulton, not far from his residence in McDonough, spreading cheer among the kids and families at Welcome All Park. It’s his holiday initiative, Shaq-a-Claus, in combination with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ annual Christmas toy giveaway.

“I’d like to thank Dr, Lucille O’Neal, my beautiful mother. She created Shaq-a-Claus 22 years ago and you know, I’m just doing my part. Know there’s a lot of babies that will not wake up with any toys on Christmas day. So we’re just trying to do our part,” the 4x NBA champion said. After introducing all his close friends and associates who made it possible, he declared, “Let’s go take care of these babies.”

About 1,700 children were registered at the event with the help of the nonprofit, WAVE (We All Value Excellence) and Shaq ensured all were catered to. They were not only treated to Christmas presents and toys, the families enjoyed ice-skating, cookie decorating, and of course, hanging out with the Hall-of-Famer himself.

O’Neal made sure to thank everyone who helped him organize the event including DA Fani Willis. They’ve partnered on several community initiatives together and the DA was even spotted at Shaq’s birthday party this year.

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Also helping him were members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. O’Neal was part of the fraternity while at LSU and he sported the Greek letters on his purple Santa cap at the event too.

Shaq-a-Claus is thriving

As O’Neal said, his mom accidentally started his Christmas tradition when she attended a Boys and Girls Club event in 1992. She asked her son, then an NBA rookie, to help giving presents for the kids present and Shaq went beyond.

Over the years, more partners like Toys R Us and Papa John’s got involved to keep Shaq-a-Claus going annually.

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After his recent appearance at Wesley Lakes Elementary and this South Fulton event, O’Neal kept the streak going at the Boys and Girls Club of Henry County. Little kids hung out with the Big Aristotle, enjoyed food and toys, and got $50 gift cards.

The holiday season is far from over. Expect Shaq-a-Claus to pop up in more places and spreaading the holiday cheer.

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