Behind bars - for a cause
Juneau citizens go to 'jail' for muscular dystrophy
On Tuesday morning Paul Curry dialed his parents from the lock-up and asked them to pay part of his $1,000 bail.
"I called my parents and I hit them up. I said, 'I'm in jail,' and I got this long pause," Curry said.
Curry's parents were relieved to hear their son had committed no crime. His jail had crepe-paper bars, and while he talked to his parents he was enjoying a free pastry.
Curry was a participant in the ninth annual "Lock Up" benefit for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Alaska, which in Juneau was held at DiSopra restaurant this year. Along with a dozen other "inmates," Curry spent an hour calling friends and asking for donations.
MDA Alaska raises money to support families with children who have been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a disease that causes muscles to slowly weaken in childhood and eventually leads to death. Four families in Juneau and 300 families in the state have children with muscular dystrophy, according to MDA Alaska District Director Amanda Tew.
Money garnered at the fund-raiser goes to help Alaska families pay for medical treatment, supplies and a summer camp called Birchwood for kids with the disease.
"We help families get wheelchairs, leg braces, anything they need," Tew said.
Last year the Juneau fund-raiser garnered $4,000.
"We've already raised $3,200," Tew said, interviewed an hour into the all-day event. "My goal is to raise $10,000."
By the close of the day, Tew was delighted to announce the group had raised almost $20,000 in pledges.
About 65 people signed up to spend an hour in "jail" raising money for MDA. They sat at tables, nibbling treats donated by DiSopra while they made calls on cellular phones, using minutes donated by ACS Wireless.
"I think the office manager is purposely avoiding my calls," said Reber Stein, who was trying to get through to his office on an old boxy cell phone that kept giving him a busy signal. He hung up and dialed his brother.
"No, I'm not in Lemon Creek, I'm in cell block one," Stein joked, relishing the opportunity to tell his brother he had been arrested.
Donna Leamer, who was sitting across from Stein, was having better luck. She came to the fund-raiser with a list of friends and co-workers to call, and she was slowly checking them off the list as she sipped a steaming cup of coffee. Leamer was given time off from her job at Era Helicopters to attend the fund-raiser.
"People know I am a very nice person, so I just lay the guilt on," Leamer said.
This was her first year participating in the fund-raiser. She agreed to do it because the group asked her in a way she couldn't refuse, she said.
"I got a phone call that said there was a warrant out for my arrest," Leamer said. "They wouldn't tell me who gave them my name, because they said the person was in a witness protection program."