Two separate fundraisers in the upcoming weeks will lock-up community leaders in an effort to raise money for important causes.

On March 18, Leadership Selma-Dallas County Class XXII will hold a bail out at city hall to raise money for Blessings in a Box, a program the class started that assists Vaughan Regional Medical Center patients and their families.

“The money we raise will go to pay for food vouchers, gift cards, housing or hotel fees, clothing, cab fare, money for donations, car seats for new moms, wheelchairs, walkers or crutches and toiletries if they are out of town and have to unexpectedly stay over night, ” said class member Ashley Mason.

The class has served 25 “warrants” and those served must raise $500 by 3 p.m. on March 18 or be thrown into a makeshift jail cell in front of city hall. Selma Mayor George Evans, St. Paul Episcopal Church rector Jack Alvey, district attorney Michael Jackson and activist Rose Sanders are among those that were “served” warrants for the fundraiser.

Two members of Class XXII — Teresa Smiley and Kay Averette — are also taking part so that class members can play a part in raising funds.

Only 12 days after the bail out fundraiser, the Muscular Dystrophy Association will hold a similar event.

On March 30, MDA will hold a lock-up, where many Selma citizens will become jailbirds for one hour if they haven’t raised a $2,400 bail.

The fundraiser will pay for children to attend MDA summer camp at Camp ASCCA in Jackson’s Gap on Lake Martin and in nearly 80 over locations nationwide. The fundraiser is held all over the country, but this is the first time it’s been held in Selma.

Executive director Angela Jordin said the group serves many families in Selma and thought it was important to hold the fundraiser here. She said many have stepped forward and been willing to help out.

“The Selma community has been wonderful,” Jordin said. “The feedback that we receive is that they are excited that something is coming to Selma and it’s something fun and kind of different.”

As of Friday, 146 Selma citizens had agreed to take part in the MDA’s fundraiser.

Both organizations say the timing is coincidental and neither knew anything about the other fundraiser until theirs was scheduled and the planning was in place.

“The bail out we are doing wasn’t an original idea by any means,” Mason said. “It’s just a fundraising tool. I’m not surprised somebody else is doing that.”

For more information on the bail out being run by Leadership Selma-Dallas County Class XXII, visit the group’s Blessings in a Box Facebook page. For more information on the MDA fundraiser, visit mda.org/lockup.