Mall prisoners raise money for MD

The Terre Haute District Muscular Dystrophy Association held its annual Bloomington Lock-Up at Fountain Square Mall Tuesday and Wednesday to raise money for the local charity. \nMDA sponsors were pleased with the turnout of people and the progress of the program.\n"It's going amazingly well," District Director Amber Treat said about the program. "On the first day, we already raised $19,000 in pledges and donations."\nWith less than half of the money left to raise after the first day, the MDA sponsors were hoping to raise more than $32,000. \n"Our goal was set a little more than last year's, but we're hoping we'll reach it this year," Treat said. \nThe fundraiser was decorated with a Hawaiian theme to bring a little fun to the program, and participants who dressed up received a calculator or a coffee mug as a prize. \n"The luau theme was just to make it fun, and surprisingly, a lot of people have participated in it, too," Treat said.\nA prize of a new DVD player was given out to the jailbirds who met or exceeded their goal of $800. And the top money-raiser received a new digital camera donated by Circuit City. \n"Circuit City has really been a great help for our fundraiser with donations," said Treat. \nTo add even more fun to the fundraiser, Sergeant Barb Beland of the Monroe County Sheriff Department volunteered to pick up jailbirds and take them home after they had worked for an hour at the fundraiser. \nThe majority of the jailbirds asked to be picked up, and some even asked to be hand-cuffed before being taken to Fountain Square Mall. \n"It's fun to arrest people for fun and a good cause instead of for anything criminal," Beland said. "Some people really open up and ask a lot of questions that they wouldn't otherwise get to ask." \nFreshman Christine Baxter volunteered at the lock-up for the first time Tuesday to fulfill her service hours for Delta Gamma. \nBefore volunteering, Baxter began raising money in her dorm and some of her sorority sisters' dorms. \n"I was really surprised about how much money I raised by just asking for spare change around the dorms," Baxter said. "I don't know if I will meet my goal of $800, but the house took a collection as a group, and as a house, we'll meet our goal. I did what I can," she added.\nBaxter was nervous about asking for money but quickly realized how generous her friends and family members were.\n"I called my family members, my friends' parents and a lot of people from my church, too," Baxter said. "I was intimidated at first, but then I was surprised to see how much everyone is willing to help out."\nMDA members said they were pleased with the fundraiser and thankful for the community's help with the fundraising and donations.\n"(The fundraiser) is going amazingly well," Treat said. "I would like to thank everyone who participated for the food, prizes and donations"