Big Backpack Build Planned To Prepare For Bullard Back-To-School Bash

TAMPA, FL — In what's become a summer tradition in Tampa, 500 volunteers will join former WWE superstar and current WWE global ambassador Titus O'Neil at Amalie Arena Saturday morning to stuff 30,000 backpacks with school supplies for children who might otherwise have none on the first day of school.

The event, which already has an eager volunteer army signed up to participate, is just one of the charitable programs that has made O'Neil, whose real name is Thaddeus Bullard, a community icon in Tampa Bay.

The Big Backpack Build is in anticipation of the fifth annual Back-to-School Bash scheduled Aug. 6 at 9 a.m. at Raymond James Stadium during which thousands of children receive a backpack filled with crayons, glue, rulers, notebooks and the requisite No. 2 pencils.

Sponsored by the nonprofit that Bullard founded, the Bullard Family Foundation. along with AdventHealth and Skansa, the free Back-to-School Bash will also offer free medical, dental and vision screenings, complimentary haircuts, entertainment and food.

“There are thousands of students and teachers in need of resources in our school district,” said Bullard in a news release. “I’m so honored by how our foundation’s corporate partners have stepped up again in a big way to ensure our students are prepared for the start of school, not only with backpacks and school supplies, but also with haircuts, and health services and so much more. It goes without saying that we are all richer for giving.”

Families can register for a backpack in advance by clicking here, and must register for medical, dental and eye care services by clicking here.

See related stories:

• Middle Magnet School Named In Honor Of Community Icon
• Tampa Officials Join Bautista, O'Neil On Love Walk For Equality
• WWE Superstar Helps Provide Pasco Schools With Innovation Labs

Bullard has parlayed his fame as a pro wrestler into a philanthropic empire that has raised millions of dollars for local and national charities, secured scholarships for student athletes and provided schools with equipment and resources that have helped reduce the racial divide.

Among the projects that's earned him universal accolades is his adoption of Sligh Middle Magnet School in East Tampa four years ago.

The ZIP code in which the school is located has the sixth-highest percentage of children living in poverty in Florida. More than 96 percent of the student body qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

He said his goal was to turn the school into an example of what can happen if a community is willing to donate its time and resources.

"Where's the best place to start any transformation? Education," he told Patch in an interview. "I want this to be like a haven for this neighborhood. I want to develop a culture of health and wellness and pride."

The Bullard Family Foundation recruited more than 100 corporate and community partners to give the students access to leadership training, the arts, technology and sports programs. Additionally, the foundation offered workforce development training and support services to parents of students at the school.

After just one year, Sligh experienced a 67-point total gain on state assessments in the spring of 2019, ranking first among Hillsborough County middle schools. In 2020, overall attendance was up, student misconduct and suspensions were down, and teacher retention was at an all-time high.

At the request of students, teachers and parents at Sligh Middle Magnet School, the Hillsborough County School Board voted unanimously last July to name the school in honor of Bullard for all he's done. The school is now known as the Thaddeus M. Bullard Academy at Sligh Middle Magnet School.

His largesse also provided students with laptops and other technology to aid them in the transition to e-learning during the coronavirus pandemic.

When civil unrest gripped Tampa following George's Floyd's murder in 2020, Bullard and longtime friend, Tampa resident and former fellow WWE wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista led hundreds of people on a Love Walk through Tampa to promote peace and solidarity.

Bullard's foundation has built five innovation labs at schools in the Tampa Bay Area, which double as incentive rooms during the school day and a safe space after school.

Each holiday season, the foundation hosts the Joy of Giving, providing gifts and food for families in need.

His Cops and Cleats program has collected more than 8,000 pairs of football cleats for kids in youth leagues and on high school football teams.

And the BFF Tennis Academy gives 250 children from seven Boys & Girls Clubs in Tampa Bay the opportunity to receive tennis instruction from the United States Tennis Association.

In his spare time, without alerting the media or seeking recognition, Bullard's been known to show up at the local Boys & Girls Club unannounced to play a pickup basketball game with kids, serve up food for the homeless at a soup kitchen and drop by a hospital pediatric unit to encourage a critically ill child.

Bullard said he's simply paying it forward.

As a youngster growing up in Tampa, he was sent to the Florida Sheriff's Youth Ranch in Live Oak for fighting and disciplinary problems.

He said the attention he received from adults at the youth ranch allowed him to turn his life around, instilling in him the ethics and character traits that he has since passed on to his own two children and the hundreds of students he encounters during his charity work.

Bullard went on to become one of the top high school football recruits in the nation, graduating from the University of Florida with two degrees. He served as student body vice president, played in the NFL and became a WWE superstar.

That experience at the youth ranch later became the central theme of his inspirational autobiography, "There's No Such Thing as a Bad Kid: How I Went From Stereotype to Prototype."