About 70 local business people were locked up yesterday at a makeshift jail at Outback Steakhouse, but it was all in a good cause.
They volunteered to be arrested by the Westborough or Marlborough Police or the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. “Our jailbirds then raised bail money by asking friends, family, coworkers, their business, vendors and things like that, for donations,” said Muscular Dystrophy Association District Director David Spellman. Yesterday’s event, held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., raised more than $27,500. Those involved were also allowed to raise money for the event online. Everyone’s target bail was $800 and many raised even larger amounts for the association. The $800 target is the amount of money it costs to send a child to the MDA summer camp. Upon getting to jail, the prisoners had their mug shots taken before entering their cells, where Outback provided what Spellman called “gourmet” bread and water. Prisoners also got to pick from a jailhouse menu that included burgers and steak.
“They were allowed to raise additional funds once they were in jail by calling people saying, ‘Hey it’s Joe, I’m in jail, can you help me out”‘ said Spellman. “Then once they were done making calls to other people we turned all the proceeds into our bailiff and then gave them a ride back to work.”