Being Locked Up for a Good Cause
Posted by Steven Richardson on February 20, 2008
A few years ago, just before I took office as the President of the Gloucester County Bar Association, I had the opportunity to participate in a fund raiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in which I was “arrested” by a liveried chauffeur, driven in a limousine to a local country club, given a cell phone, and told to “raise my bail” in donations. Boy, talk about doing “hard time!” All I got out of it was a keychain that dangled little mini handcuffs (a real conversation starter, I can tell you) and a picture of me “behind bars.”
Last year, I was asked to do it again, and was driven to a local Outback Steakhouse where I was fed and again provided with a cell phone to “raise my bail.” This time I was smart and sent out e-mails in advance. By the time I got there, I had a few hundred dollars in pledges already. They also provided me with a web page on which people could make donations, and it would show my progress towards my goal. Again, I left with a handcuff key chain and a smile.
Well, no good deed goes unpunished; they have asked me to do it again. Hopefully I will get closer to my goal than I did last year by benefit of experience. If you would like to donate to get me “early release,” please go to my MDA web site by March 5, 2008, and make a donation. It will give you a chuckle and the feeling that you have done a good thing for the day.
