DSU Jail and Bail raises over $8,000

The Annual Madison Jail and Bail was held Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Oct. 16-17. Pledges came in at an excess of $8,000, a record high for the Madison Jail and Bail. Over 50 ‘criminals’ from around the community and across the DSU campus were locked up by the March of Dimes so they could raise that money.

Volunteers from the DSU Phi Beta Lambda Business Club and community members organized the event, built a jail in the Trojan Center student union building and played Keystone Cops to round up ‘criminals’ at their homes and offices at an agreed upon time to bring them in.

In front of the jail, each ‘criminal’ was sentenced by a ‘judge’ to 1 hour of making phone calls to raise a bail in donations. The calls were made for free using phones donated by a local cell phone provider. Most ‘criminals’ raised $50 to $100 or more, while prisoner Roger Stordahl presented the March of Dimes with $600 in pledges on Wednesday afternoon.

The Jail and Bail fundraiser is an event the March of Dimes holds every fall in cities throughout South Dakota and the nation. The Jail and Bail has been organized and supported by the DSU Chapter of Phi Beta Lambda. Phi Beta Lambda is the collegiate division of Future Business Leaders of America, which is a nonprofit education association that prepares today’s students to be tomorrow’s leaders by promoting leadership, scholarship, and service.

The March of Dimes is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of healthy babies. The March of Dimes helped support research that led to the Polio vaccine and helped to make the vaccine available across the country. The March of Dimes has also donated incubators to help save premature babies and, in recent years, promoted folic acid for mothers to reduce birth defects.

“The student members and officers of the Phi Beta Lambda Business Club would like to thank every prisoner, keystone cop, judge, bailiff, donors (of food, funds, and parking spaces!), and workers for helping make this event a huge success this year,” said Dan Talley, event organizer. “The club also recognizes the efforts of Sean Moen and the DSU Food Service, and the staffs of the DSU Physical Plant and the Office of Student Services for their extra help.”

“Two student leaders also deserve particular recognition for their efforts: PBL Business Club President Tracy Steed and PBL March of Dimes Committee Chair Carissa Persoon really went the extra mile for this event,” added Talley. “The Madison community should be proud of this outstanding level of support for the March of Dimes.”