Merchants throughout Mobile will be rounded up and jailed on Thursday November 13, 2008. Friendly warrants have been sworn for the arrest of many pillars of the Mobile business community by the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

During their incarceration in a holding cell at the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion on Spring Hill Avenue, the Mobile Jailbirds (as they are being called) will endeavor to raise "bail" for their release by telephoning family, friends and business associates. All bail proceeds will go to the Muscular Dystrophy Association to assist in financing medical research, providing support groups for families dealing with muscular dystrophy in their lives, and purchasing wheelchairs and leg braces for those afflicted.

If you receive a phone call or visit from one of Mobile's Jailbirds asking for your assistance, I encourage you to dig deep and give whatever your heart and your personal finances will allow. Donations made to the Muscular Dystrophy Association are tax deductible to the extent allowed by applicable laws.

After agreeing to participate in the East Mobile Executive Lock-Up, I reflected back upon a television show that my wife and I enjoyed so much when we were able to watch it - Donald Trump's 'The Apprentice'. Remembering the creativity that Mr. Trump's candidates for Apprentice used to raise money, I was inspired to get a little creative myself.

I created a flyer asking for the public's help, using a mafia-style theme, and was able to get 100 free color copies made from a new copy shop located downtown (they asked me not to mention them by name). Many merchants in Downtown Mobile have allowed me to post the flyers in their windows - just their little way of helping out in this ever-worsening economy.

I watched in amusement as many people read the flyers and chuckled at the way that I worded my plea for help. It made me realize the love that one can have for another when the very first dollar that I collected towards my goal of raising $2,600 came not from a businessman or a friend, but from an elderly, homeless woman that I have seen on the streets of Mobile for the past seven years that I've been in business here. She refused a receipt, saying "God knows, and that's all the receipt I need", then she gave me a hug and went her way back to the streets that she knows so well.

If you'd like to help raise money for Jerry's Kids, donations are being accepted Monday through Saturday at Busaba's Thai Cuisine located at 203 Dauphin Street in Downtown Mobile, Alabama. Donations can also be made online by visiting https://www.joinmda.org/eastmobile08/charity

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