Shaquille O’Neal gifts custom Mercedes van to family of 11
Shaq's commitment to service continued this weekend when the Lakers legend visited the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is known for his generosity. His Shaq Foundation hosts several annual projects, including Shaq-a-Claus, where he has provided tens of thousands of toys, clothing, meals, and more to underprivileged youth across the country.
Shaq’s commitment to service continued this weekend when the Lakers legend visited the Dallas-Fort Worth area and hosted a luncheon at St. Philip’s School alongside Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson.
According to 97.9 The Beat, O’Neal also gifted a family of 11 with a luxury 15-passenger Mercedes van. Karissa Collins, a blogger and part-owner of a Christian-based boutique, has nine children with her husband, according to their Instagram, which has more than 350,000 followers.
A sports site called Overtime posted a message that Collins reportedly wrote, where she shared how she met the NBA legend and detailed his generosity.
“I have no words right now!!!,” the post reads. “Last night we had a surprise visit from Shaq. He took us to dinner as a family at babes chicken. It was so much fun to just hang out and eat dinner with him.”
The post goes on to say that O’Neal took the family to a local Mercedes dealership where they got to customize and order a new 15-passenger van. He then took the family to another restaurant where he paid for the meal of a nearby family and tipped the waitress $1,000.
The post continues, saying that upon hearing that the family’s other truck didn’t have good heating and air conditioning, Shaq bought one to replace it.
“Somebody wake me up because I must be dreaming,” Collins wrote, adding, “Thank you @shaq a million times!!! You have been such a blessing to us in so many ways.”
Last year, Shaq talked about his philanthropy in an interview with People saying, “A lot of people describe it as giving back. I describe it as doing what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to help those in need. If I’m somewhere and see somebody’s needing something, I’ll take care of it. My favorite places to go to are Best Buy and furniture stores.”
“I just always try to continue to do the right thing and just lead by example. I’m all about brightening up people’s day,” O’Neal shares. “I had a meeting with my mother, Dr. Lucille O’Neal, and she was like, ‘Baby, you’ve done everything I’ve asked you to do. I think you should go about every day just making somebody smile and making somebody happy.’ So I take pride in each and every day by just making one person smile, whether it’s one person or whether it’s a hundred people or whether it’s a thousand people.”
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