The big man is stepping up – once again – to help kids in one of the localities where he’s got a big personal footprint. See what we did there…?
This week – as of this posting – The Shaquille O’Neal Foundation announced its latest partnership to build a brand-spanking-new Boys and Girls Club in the suburbs of northwest Las Vegas. The Foundation is partnering with The Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada, and the group Communities In Schools of Southern Nevada.
Do you know the area? Plans call for a new 17,000-square-foot facility to be be located near N. Lamb Boulevard and Kell Lane in northwest Vegas. Planners say the location is perfect due to it’s location in the Vegas valley close to three public elementary schools in the area. The new facility will sit on five acres of land, which was donated by the Clark County School District.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada President and CEO Andy Bischel said, “I had been looking at this piece of land for years because the school district wasn’t going to develop it. What kind of project can we really put on this land.” The local school district recently decided to donate the land. The county officially took over ownership, and then turned it over to the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation.
All images in this post – Thanks to KTNV TV Las Vegas
The BIG Podcast with SHAQ
Plans call for a wide variety of services to be handled through the new center, according to Bischel. “There’s an early childhood development center. That’s licensed childcare. That’s infant to five years old. Boys & Girls Club, six to 18. Communities In Schools, 18 to 24. We’re taking care of kids from infancy to 24 years of age. Those things all come together and make this an ideal project for everybody.”
At the announcement press conference, Shaquille O’Neal Foundation CEO Perry Rogers said this project would also be something new for the foundation: “It’s the first alumni center for Communities In Schools in America. It’s the first time that Communities In Schools in America and the Boys & Girls Club are going to be building a facility together in the country. We hope that will take place many, many, many more times.”
Of course for those of us that know our Shaq-history, education has always played a big role in O’Neal’s life, and that included a local Boys and Girls Club. “Growing up in the projects of northern New Jersey, my parents couldn’t afford babysitters. Luckily, my aunt worked at the Boys & Girls Club right across the street. My instructions were, excuse my French, after school, take your ass over there and you better not be on the streets by the time we come pick you up.”
O’Neal said his family always made sure he was getting a good education, along with his interest in hoops. “My aunt was very smart. She could see things I couldn’t see. Every time I came in, I had to show her a progress report. If I didn’t do good on my school works, she would make me do academics. She would always tell me whatever you want to dream, just dream about it.”
Among his many high-level business and philanthropic interests, O’Neal is a member of the national board for Communities In Schools. The ShaqFu Radio blog has reported on his many fundraising activities, including the huge annual “The Event” at the MGM Grand, which raises money for his foundation. That money goes back to all kinds of programs, including Shaq-a-Claus and Shaq-To-School programs.
As part of the press conference and announcement of the new center this week, O’Neal and his team handed out backpacks full of school supplies to Las Vegas students. “Sometimes, you work one or two jobs. You’ve got to pay for food. You got to pay cable. You got to pay the phone bill. You don’t have time to get your kids the gear they want,” O’Neal said. “I have a lot and at the end, it’s about doing the right thing.”
That mindset was echoed by Foundation CEO Rogers, who said, “He (Shaq) wants to make sure people feel supported, they feel loved, and kids that are the most vulnerable, they’re looking for that the most and he wanted to be there for them,” Rogers said. “I can’t tell you how much that has inspired everyone here.”