Mama June saves Christmas! Reality star spends thousands to bolster her annual toy drive... as donations plummet following reports she 'dated child molester'
Mama June has hosted an annual Christmas toy drive for the past five years.
The charitable event has been enormously successful over the years with hundreds of donors showing up each night to make contributions toward needy children.
But this year was a different story with attendance at an all-time low, and Mama June (aka June Shannon) had to step in and bolster the drive with her own money, according to TMZ.
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Saving Christmas: Mama June (aka June Shannon) donated thousands to bolster her annual toy drive after contributions plummeted
The low attendance follows the crumbling of June's Honey Boo Boo empire after her TLC reality show was cancelled due to reports she was dating a convicted child molester.
With only a couple hundred people contributing Mama June told TMZ that she donated $2,000 of her own money to buy toys.
'No matter if one or one hundred came out,' she explained, 'I was going to make sure the kids here in the county will wake up to something at Christmas.'
Marred by scandal: The low attendance follows the crumbling of June's Honey Boo Boo empire after her TLC reality show was cancelled due to reports she was dating a convicted child molester
Previous years saw June's on-off beau Sugar Bear dress up as Santa Claus and her home festively decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments.
The Honey Boo Boo matriarch split from the father of youngest daughter Alana earlier this year amid reports she had embarked on a relationship with convicted child molester Mark McDaniel.
TLC cancelled the family's hit reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, following reports of June's alleged relationship with McDaniel.
Before the storm: June and daughter Alana on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in June
She initially denied TMZ reports that she had seen McDaniel after his release from prison in March but now admits she lied.
'I'm human, I made mistakes and done wrong, but no one is perfect,' she told the website, maintaining she no longer has any contact with McDaniel.
June previously claimed she had only seen McDaniel since his release - once coincidentally and once to give her daughter, Pumpkin, some closure because she believed he was her father.
In a televised interview with Dr Phil, June added that McDaniel has 'moved on,' saying: 'He's got a girlfriend and it's not me.'
She claimed that at least one of the photos showing them together since his release earlier this year has been photoshopped.
McDaniel served 10 years in prison for molesting a child. June's daughter Anna also claimed, in a separate case, that she was abused by the man when she was eight. But her allegations did not lead to a conviction.
Following the alleged abuse in 2002, Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell told police that McDaniel had abused her repeatedly, sometimes while Pumpkin, then three, was in bed next to her.
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