Ahead of the much-anticipated Royal Rumble Premium Live Event several WWE Superstars appeared at the St. Petersburg chapter of the Boys and Girls Club of America to celebrate the opening of the first “SuperSpaces” program in the United States.
The event saw WWE personalities Natalya, Candace LeRae and all three members of The New Day join WWE Ambassador and Hall of Famer Titus O’Neil in opening a new space within the building to help local children achieve their dreams.
The collective work of several community members, students, WWE and other local partners created a sophisticated multimedia lounge. This “SuperSpace” included brand new furniture, a huge TV, gaming systems, two brand new PCs and much more. Also adorning different parts of the room were pieces of WWE merchandise and likenesses of WWE superstars like Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns.
“We get a big pop from putting smiles on peoples’ faces,” O’Neil told Slam Wrestling. “These folks, all of them may not be able to go to the Royal Rumble or Monday Night Raw but they’ll all have a chance, each and every day, to be reminded that WWE was here, they can envision themselves becoming WWE Superstars and they envision themselves giving back to their community.”
BGCA’s mission is to provide kids with a space to grow and feel connected both after school and during the summer months. In some cases, the organization also provides less-fortunate children with food and additional interpersonal help with certain struggles. In other cases, it provides a simple space where kids with limited resources of their own can learn skills, play games and otherwise have a space for themselves.
O’Neil, along with Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, credited BGCA with helping them improve their personal skills and develop the confidence they needed. In O’Neil’s case, without the BCGA he wouldn’t have ever become a WWE Superstar.
After a few high-profile figures involved with the local chapter of BGCA lauded WWE for providing the organization with whatever it needed to accomplish its goal, it awarded three “Super-Builders” with their own custom WWE championship belt. In addition, WWE surprised them and everyone else by further announcing that each one of those three would get a $5,000.00 scholarship.
All three members of the New Day were swarmed with young fans and took the time to answer questions and sign autographs from anyone who asked. All the wrestlers took time to speak to anyone who asked and showed genuine happiness for the families in attendance at the event.
O’Neil was optimistic about WWE’s charity work once again and described how these sorts of events are more than just “good PR”. According to him, the tangible changes and the impact these decisions have on communities outweighs everything else.
“Our goal is to ‘takeover the world’ with positivity and great entertainment. At the end of the day, it’s great for business, it’s great for our business partners and it’s great for the communities we go into.”
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