By paNOW Staff

Jail-n-Bail raises thousands for cancer society

Oct 19, 2018 | 11:28 AM

Suspected criminals didn’t get off easy at the Jail-N-Bail fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS).

A number of ‘jail birds’ were arrested for silly reasons like ‘being too chipper on a Monday’ and then locked up in cells at the Gateway Mall on Thursday. They were given more than one phone call, so they could tap into family and friends to raise their bail.

“We had lots of fun and enjoyed watching the jailbirds pleading their case. One of the judges made one guy do the Baby Shark dance,” Charlene Bernard with the Prince Albert branch of the CCS said.

The top fundraiser was Geoff Despins from the Prince Albert Grand Council. His bail was set at $220 but he managed to raise more than $2,600. Overall, the event raised nearly $10,000 for the cancer society’s programming and research which is about the same amount that was raised last year.

Bernard said the fundraiser has been successful over the past 29 years because of the volunteers who make it possible.

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“Most of our volunteers have been touched by cancer in one way or another,” Bernard said. “Either they have been though it themselves or are battling it right now, or someone close to them is. We had one volunteer who is currently battling advanced cancer and she was a great inspiration to everyone who was donating.”

According to the CCS website, they have channeled over $1.4 billion to cancer research since the 1940s. In that time, only about 25 per cent of Canadians with cancer would survive at least five years after their diagnosis. Today, survival is about 60 per cent.

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow