Ellington

Candice Stocker is one of the organizers of Community Animal Rescue & Adoption Inc.'s upcoming Jail-n-Bail fundraiser event May 2. She also sits on CARA's board of directors. CARA is a non-profit no-kill animal rescue group that cares for hundreds of abused, unwanted and stray animals.

"I met someone who worked with CARA, and they invited me to volunteer with them," Stocker said. "CARA is always looking for good volunteers to help them. I started volunteering with them at a few events, and they asked me to be a board member, so I could take a more active role in fundraising work, rather than just volunteering. Now I manage my own fundraiser that will be starting in July."

At the Jail-n-Bail event, visitors can volunteer a friend to go to the kennel and be "arrested." Arrestees stay at the kennel and invite other friends to come to the event to make donations toward their bail, which can be either $250 or $500. A caller who pays $25 posts a $250 bail for their arrestee, while a $50 donation posts a $500 bail.

CARA will use the funds raised by the event to purchase new dog kennels to replace some of the organization's old, rusted ones. $500 is the full cost to install a kennel. An arrestee who raises that amount gets the kennel named after them or whomever they wish to designate.

"One of our board members saw an article about a leukemia foundation doing this kind of charity, and we decided it would be the perfect event for us to do to raise money for kennels," Stocker said. "This is the first time we're doing this, and we think it's going to be really fun. We're always looking to rotate out old kennels and bring in new ones, and we hope this will be our fundraiser that lets us do that every year."

Sweet Peppers Deli is donating food for arrestees' lunch.

Mostly volunteers and part-time employees operate CARA. Private donations from individuals and businesses, and fundraising events throughout the year, provide the funds for the organization's expenses, programs and services; CARA receives no funding from any government agency. Stocker has been with the organization for about a year.

Born in Jackson, Stocker now lives in Ridgeland. She attended Florence High School and then Hinds Community College in Raymond. Stocker finished her degree at University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she majored in occupational therapy.

CARA's Jail-n-Bail will be this Thursday, May 2, at the Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland between Ruth's Chris and Mint Restaurants from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. To have someone "arrested" or for more information about the event, call Candice Stocker at 601-953-3692, or email her at [email protected].