Wrestler Titus O'Neil, recalling his own troubled childhood, partners with PDQ to throw school birthday parties

PDQ, the Tampa-based chicken chain short for "People Dedicated to Quality," is joining forces with WWE wrestler Titus O' Neil from now until May to host monthly Champions of Character parties at local schools.

PDQ and O'Neil have already started monthly birthday celebrations for students at Sligh Middle School and Pepin Academy with plans to shower more schools with items from the PDQ menu — hand-breaded chicken tenders, chips, fresh-baked cookies and homemade sauces — in addition to a special birthday cake from O'Neil.

"Titus is a phenomenal community leader and we feel privileged to partner with him again for his Champions of Character initiative all year long at Hillsborough County Schools," Nick Reader, PDQ co-founder and chief executive, said in a news release.

"He continues to do amazing things for youth. We are proud to call him a friend of our brand and to be partners on such a great program."

The Champions of Character Birthday Parties program is personal for the WWE wrestler, who had no birthday parties of his own growing up poor. A Boynton Beach native, Bullard was raised by a young single mother and recalled charitable groups helping the family when he was a child.

He figured there are kids today in similar straights, so he partnered with Hillsborough Public Schools; Unsigned Preps, a non-profit organization designed to help high school student athletes gain admission into college; and PDQ.

"We want to celebrate kids who are being great assets to their school," said O'Neil, who was known as Thaddeus Bullard when he starred with the Florida Gators football team. "The goal is to give kids a birthday they will not forget."

The parties start with Sligh Middle and Pepin Academy. The parties will be the third Wednesday of each month during the school year with two parties in May to recognize summer birthdays.

The initiative also invites students with great character, perfect attendance and those who show grade improvement to each month's party.

Contact Monique Welch at mwelch@tampabay.com