Pat Donahue/Times-EnterpriseMDA "Jailbirds" were busy on their phones Thursday rounding up "bail money" for the annual MDA Lock-up.

THOMASVILLE— Thomasville Police officers escorted people throughout Thursday morning to their temporary holding cells. Only this time, they got to make plenty of phone calls to raise their bail.

It was all part of the annual MDA Lock-Up, a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, held at SASS on Thursday.

Thomasville officers volunteered their time to roundup the “jailbirds,” who then made calls, texts or resorted to social media platforms to get freed. They weren’t in solitary confinement, and they did get lunch.

“It’s amazing how much a community can come together and raise money,” said Lisa Heil of the MDA. “Our goal is $45,000 and we’ve already topped that. At the end of the day, it is helping local families that have muscle disease and providing research, which is a huge thing. Ultimately, we want to provide treatments and cures for these families.”

Contributions to the jailbirds’ online pages will be taken for another month. Heil offered her gratitude to the Thomasville Police Department and its help in getting the annual Lock-Up to happen. Even the city’s top cop, Chief Troy Rich, was a Jailbird raising bail money. 

“Without them, our Jailbirds wouldn’t make here,” she said. “It is a big community effort.”

For more on the MDA Lock-Up and to donate, visit www2.mdalockup.org/southgeorgia2.

 

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.