WWE star Titus O’Neil helps 30,000 kids get ready to go back to school

TAMPA, Fla. - Thousands of people packed Raymond James Stadium on Saturday for the fifth-annual "Back to School Back," where families picked up free backpacks loaded with school supplies, had access to free medical services, and celebrated the upcoming school year.

"Thirty thousand backpacks, we’re giving away with school supplies. We’ve got food. We’ve got fun. We’ve got bounce houses. There’s something out here for everybody. Once the backpacks run out, they run out," said Thaddeus Bullard aka Titus O’Neil, the WWE star who founded the Bullard Family Foundation.  "Last year for a lot of teachers, it was the most challenging year ever for them, so we want to try to help equip those students and staff, and parents with the most that we possibly can on this day."

In addition to the 30,000 backpacks that were given away, AdventHealth providers were on hand for pre-school and pre-sports physicals to make sure kids were healthy before starting the school year.

"There’s so much anxiety and so many checkboxes they need to complete before they go into the new school year, so anything that can ease everybody’s stress about getting all of those tasks completed and they can enjoy their weekends, that’s what we’re here to do today," said Noelle McClellan, a nurse at AdventHealth.

This event began promptly at 9:01 a.m. Titus O’Neil says there’s a special reason for that very specific time.

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"The one represents unity. I don’t care what background you come from. I don’t care what political affiliation you’re associated with. I just care about you being a great human being, and that means unity, everybody coming together for one cause, one moment, and that’s to do the work," said O’Neil.

LINK: For more information about the Bullard Family Foundation, click here.