MDA Jail & Bail event raised $17,885 Tuesday
(Talk of the Town photo provided) Carrie Hoffman, a recruiter for the Huntington University EXCEL program participated in the MDA Jail & Bail fundraiser Tuesday, as shown below.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
It’s a good thing we don’t run jail bookings on Talk of the Town – because quite a few local residents got “locked up” on Tuesday. Perhaps we’ll make an exception this time!
There were real police involved…ok, as volunteers…and jail cells…sort of…but there was real money paid for bail. 
The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) hosted their annual “Jail & Bail” fund drive on Tuesday, raising $17,885.
In all, 55 local resident “jailbirds” participated in the event – each volunteer having a goal of donating $1600 each. According to the MDA, two volunteers met that goal or exceeded it: John Fulton raised $1600 and Steve Frakes raised over $2000 for MDA.
Officers from the Columbia City Police Department volunteered to arrest participating jailbirds, including Chris Tomlinson, Carrie Hoffman and CCHS principal Gregg Goewert. The jailed individuals were held at Bones Theatre in Columbia City where they enjoyed some rather comfortable digs while working to raise their bail funds.
The MDA is still accepting donations. The office that serves Whitley County is located in Fort Wayne. For more information, call 1-800-572-1717. All donations are tax deductible.