Jamie Lynn McDonald is going to jail Thursday.

She knows the hour of her incarceration, knows the seriousness of the charge leveled against her. But the 29-year-old Black Diamond woman is OK about her coming spell in the slammer. Well, better than OK, she relishes it.

What’s more, her 9-year-old daughter, Charisma, thinks having a jailbird for a mom is worth boasting about to chums – a real hoot.

That’s because McDonald, a waitress and bartender at The Pit Restaurant and Bar and at Longhorn Barbecue, isn’t headed to a real lockup patrolled by thick-necked guards. Instead, she’s

bound for a makeshift cell at Emerald Downs where she will raise money for Jerry’s Kids through the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s 2008 Auburn Lock Up.

“I volunteer my time for an hour to go sit behind bars, and all the proceeds I get that are donated toward my bail go towards Jerry’s Kids,” McDonald explained.

McDonald, aka “Most Wanted,” will be arrested at 11 a.m. at The Pit. The arresting “officer” will then put her into a paddy wagon and drive her to her jail cell where she will do her time with other compassionate desperadoes.

“I don’t know if they will handcuff me or not,” McDonald said. “I know people can visit me there and even take pictures.”

Someone, McDonald, said, and she still does not know who, nominated her for the honor.

“I got a phone call at The Pit. I said let me transfer you to management. The woman said, ‘No, Jamie, you’re the one who was nominated.’ I said, OK, let’s do it. They wanted to make sure I was interested in doing it. They gave me the gist of everything,” McDonald said.

McDonald hopes to raise $1,600 for the cause, but as of last Sunday she had raised only a few hundred dollars. The more people who know what she is doing, she said, the more money she can raise. So she has been bending the ear of everyone she can.

People interested in donating may do so at jaymelynmac@joinmda.org by following the link.

“Every little penny counts,” McDonald said.

McDonald expects to be under lock and key for an hour.

“What’s an hour of my time?” McDonald said. “You get back what you put out in this life. There are people less fortunate than I am, and I really have to ask, what is an hour of my time, what is an hour to make people aware of what’s going on, what is a few dollars here and there if the cause is great?

“I have had rough patches in my life, and being able to give back to somebody is well worth it. When it comes to this fundraiser, I thought it was going to be fun. I want to be part of Auburn because this is where I want my donation to be. If you keep on giving, it will come back to you in the end. I am a lucky girl, I really am, and blessed to have people around me. Now I just want to give a little back.”

But what is the charge against her?

“Being too friendly and nice,” McDonald said. “Someone in their witness protection program nominated me for being too friendly.”