INUVIK - Rachel Hansen learned firsthand what it's like to put someone behind bars.

Hansen is fundraising in her bid to be crowned the Muskrat Jamboree Queen this weekend. As one of her fundraising events, she chose a community-wide "jail bail" activity.

Her mother, Ruby St. Amand, said the idea for the fundraiser came from a family member.

"It was my niece who brought up the idea of the jail bail, but I didn't know how to get it started," said St. Amand.

Essentially, a jail bail calls for someone to be "arrested" and brought to a holding cell until someone pays their bail for them.

Once the person is in the cell, they can make calls to have a friend or family member pay their way out.

The first event took place at the fire hall, on March 23.

"The RCMP were really co-operative for this," said St. Amand.

"We had Kyle Edwards help the first time and Noella Cockney helped the second time."

Hansen said the event was good for her because she was introduced to a lot of people.

"It was good to go and interact with other people in the community," said Hansen.

"I met a lot of new faces."

Being arrested and brought in for charity might have been easy for some people to understand, but Hansen said there were a few people who contested the "arrest."

"They would ask what authority we had, some gave us a hard time," said Hansen.

"But when they found out it was for the Jamboree, they all co-operated."

Hansen said the look on the faces of some people she picked up were priceless.

"Some of the people reacted with total Kodak-moment faces," she said.

The events raked in $2,300 for the fundraising drive.

St. Amand said the team now has nearly reached their goal of $12,000.

"I'm sure we'll reach that before the Jamboree," said St. Amand.

Hansen said she enjoyed the whole experience of competing for the queen's crown.

"I hope all this hard work pays off," she said.