MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. (DC News Now) — Annabelle Lee is only 12 years old, yet her spirit of giving goes way beyond her age, especially this time of year.
On Saturday, Nov. 30, Annabelle hosted her annual toy drive at Big Lots. She’s collecting money and new toys for children in need around Montgomery County.
Annabelle spent some time at the Montgomery County Crisis Center after her father died in a motorcycle crash in 2016. Shortly before his death, Montgomery County deputies had tracked Anabelle to Gary, Ind., where investigators said her mother had taken her during a custody dispute.
Not long after deputies returned Annabelle to her father, he died in the crash. She stayed at the center while she waited for her paternal grandmother to adopt her.
“I saw a lot there, and it was really heartbreaking,” she recalled about her experiences at the center. “I saw how they had used and broken and, like, not fully put together toys, and I felt that they should have something better than that, than using other things that other people have also used.”
Anabelle organized her first toy drive in 2019. Since then, she has had plenty of help, including from those at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
One of the deputies who helped find her was a good friend of her father’s. That deputy and the rest of the agency have become a second family to her.
“She’s definitely one of our ambassadors, absolutely,” said Sheriff Maxwell Uy. “She has a special place within the sheriff’s office, for sure.”
Annabelle hopes to fill two U-Haul vans with new toys, the same number from last year’s drive.
“The most rewarding thing is that I could bring joy to the world when there’s so little,” she said.
She and other volunteers will collect more new toys at the Big Lots on Sunday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and on Friday, Dec. 6, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The last day to donate is Sunday, Dec. 8, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
