CORNWALL, Ontario – For the third year in a row, dozens of Cornwall residents found themselves under arrest in a single day on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 for the annual Hub for Beyond 21 Jail and Bail.
Whether it be Cornwall Tourism Coordinator Kevin Lajoie for shamelessly promoting the City of Cornwall, or CCHF Executive Director Amy Gillespie for wearing lipstick and heels to work, citizens were rounded up, brought to the Cornwall Square to do their time and pay their debt.
All of this, is in good fun and for a good cause. Last year’s fundraiser brought in $17,000 for Beyond 21 which gives a home for adults with developmental disabilities.
“It is a great event and from one charity to another, I wish them all the best,” said Gillespie.
How the event works is that residents submit their neighbours, co-workers and friends to be arrested. They are then brought to the Beyond 21 jail at the Cornwall Square in a stripped shirt and handcuffs. The accused is then arraigned by the judge, Brenda Quesnel of the Seaway Valley Theatre Company. The suspects are then sat down and expected to call family and friends to help them raise money for their bail.
This year’s fundraiser will be going towards the Beyond 21 capital campaign to renovate their new home on Pitt St.
“We are raising money for a new home so that everyone has a place where they belong,” said Shannon Savard, event organizer and Beyond 21 Board Member.
Beyond 21 hopes to raise $750,000 by May 2020 and launched the capital campaign at the announcement of the location of their new home on May 1.
RELATED STORY: Beyond 21 finds new home
There were two officers from the RCMP and two officers from the Cornwall Police Service who volunteered to help bring in the 28 accused for Jail & Bail this year.
Cornwall Police Association President Sgt. Dave MacLean took the time on Wednesday morning to bring in one perpetrator himself.
MacLean made the arrest of Dave Murphy at his office at Big Brothers/ Big Sisters Cornwall for threatening a police officer.
Murphy and MacLean will be facing off June 1 in at a charity boxing event for the Children’s Treatment Centre, with the winner bringing back donation money for either Big Brothers/ Big Sisters, if Murphy wins, or Beyond 21, if MacLean is victorious.
See our video of the arrest below:
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