Starting today, innocent members of the Muncie community will be thrown in jail and held captive until they are able to make bail.
Founded seven years ago by Ball State University aluma Sarah Ernstberger, and now sponsored by Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, the Jail 'n' Bail event benefits the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation and the Arthritis Foundation.
Ernstberger was diagnosed with dystonia when she was in second grade and has suffered from it for 18 years, she said. According to the Dystonia Medical Research Web site, it is a disorder where muscles spasm, usually temporarily, causing either difficulty moving, repetitive actions, pain or discomfort.
Ernstberger has the disease in her neck, which causes her head to turn to the left.
Though many people do not know what dystonia is, Ernstberger said, it is the third most common neurological disease, affecting more than 300,000 people in North America. The disease can affect anyone at any age. While some people, like Ernstberger, are diagnosed young, others may not get the disease until they are much older.
Jail 'n' Bail is an event where members of the community can pay to have their friends, family members, professors or co-workers "captured." The victim will then be taken by a member of the sorority and locked up in the Alumni Center until they are able to raise twice the amount of money paid to have them captured. Though the minimum amount that must be paid to have someone captured is only $10, all donations are welcome, Ernstberger said. Typically, the more money that is donated to arrest someone, the longer the victim has to stay in jail raising money.
When Ernstberger was looking for a fundraiser for the sorority to participate in, she had many options.
"Jail 'n' Bail was something that I had never seen at Ball State," she said. "I wanted to do something that was totally different."
Her idea worked, and over the past seven years the event has raised an estimated $50,000 to be split between the two organizations.
Today, the women of Alpha Omicron Pi will host the event for their fourth year. Alpha Omicron Pi member Kori Knoll said the organization hoped to raise close to $3,000 from this event. If anyone would like to have someone they know captured, they can go to the Alumni Center at anytime during the event, Knoll said.
The event will take place noon until 8 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday.
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