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. - ··--=- . .' - ·----=-.: ·~~ - - -- · --·--· .. . ' J-/ --·- ... f / 0 B s f mg, stuffi ng envelopes, most any kind of temp~rary,part time work. _"The _girls particularly like serving as party By PLU TRIBBLE Editor "Ren~-A-~)d is going beautifully. Beyond all ~ctat10ns, . Southsider Mrs. ~oy Ruyle; ad11strator of the program, said in a recent inriew. Began last summer to help West End , earn more money for essentials and for k-to-school necessities. the program has wn to encompass 11 locations with an enrollnt of 800 teenagers, ages 14-16. The idea for renting kids for iobs originated Joy Ruyle's creative mind. But, she doubted · could make it become a reali,ty. With the

ouragement and help of Father Edward Dil, then with St. Anthony's Catholic Church in

st End. _R~nt-A-Kid not only became a reality a thriving one which helped 400 y oung 1ple last summer. . Now. the rro$ram is a pilot project in m etro anta, and if 1t works here this summeir the ,gram will be instituted in all major d ti~ of U?ited S~tes. From the rnccess the pro1m 1s meeting at its one-third mark. Re nt-Al should become a national program next 1r. . "We ~re cat~logiilg job titles and descrip!~ of Job~ which are available and acc eptaJoy said. These will be used to set ap pro,m~ elsewhere. Acceptable jobs_. Mrs. R uyle >lamed. are those which conform to federal l state child la bor laws. .some of ~h~ jobs handled by the teenagers . baby s1~t1?g, _1romng. cleaning. hElping ,ther~. ass(stmg m packing for movers and Jacking, window washing, yard work., paint: under supervision. loading, unloading,. s tack- Rent- . . · . ! .1· W ter Spr e Cy~thia R ~ des emerges l_ ea water he wa?ing pool the Colle,..e Park ec reat10n Center. Cvnthia w ho will b . fo ur in Augus t, is th ·dauah : ter of Mr. · and Mrs. Charles Rhode/ of CoUe~e Park. (Photo by Bill Grimes) sp:tte .from as~istants." Mrs. Ruyle said. "They help 1n s rvmg and cleaning up at parties." Prese nu ·. the girls also provide baby ·sitting services ; . Atranta motels and hotels. Som~ of the job requests are a little un u_;J .:;,_ the adminsitrator said. One caller asked fer .:. bab~ sit_ter-for four St. Bernard dogs: A ra·: stat10n IS usmg Rent-A-Kid to answer pl:o:-.co d~ring a contest. Last week a department s .ca hired three Rent-A-Kids to demonstrate a r:e ·:.. toy. And a paper company. desperate ior old i:-2.: ers to reprocess. is furnishing trucks at fc _: Rent-A-Kid locations and has hired six kids : . each cen~er to work on the paper drive. T:. p~per dnve locations, are Kirkwood o :-,. _ Hills, Forest Park and Perry Homes . · _,_· Mrs. Ruyle said people can take their pa!= -~_ ~o these locations or call Rent-A-Kid at 577-5"..:.. 1f they have too much paper to ha ul. and a ·tr·..: _ will come by and pick up the papers whici: _. n?t ha~e to be bundled or tied . This pick up 5 a:v1ce will be m effect the first two weeks of J t.: . ~'Th_e exciting thing about this progra::-. Joy said. "is that it has opened a new la:•.. market. It has stimulated jobs in an untouc:-. .. area that will continue to provide employrr: ~ for teenagers. The grass keeps growing. Pe.. r:: keep having babies. Dust keeps collecting ... The_most sa_tisfying aspect of the prog, :c.--: according to 1ts administrator who is employment specialist for E.OA.1 is what i m~nt and continues toliiea-n·ttf'the kids . .. ~--ults sometimes don't realize what is impor:~~ to a young person," she said. id Continue,Hrom Page One Last year at the end of the program, Mrs Ruyle · received a letter from one of the West End Rent-A-Kids, thanking her for the job opportunities. He said that means a lo:. to these teenagers. · He had been able t o buy shoes for all of his brothers and sisters :and himself. He paid his locker fee a t school. F,or the first time he had a gym suit. "Now I d on' t feel different," the young boy wrote. "I d on' t mind going to school this year." "By helping teenagers at the age of 14 and 15, we can keep them from dropping out of school and joining the hard-core unemployed at the age of 16, before t heir motivation is killed," Mrs . Ruyle said. She estimates there a re 30,000 kids in the metro area who want and need employment . There are not enough jobs for them. Industry and business can't absorb this many kids. "Rent-A-Kid is Irelping to fill the gap." The program i:s funded this summer by the US Department of Labor and the Metro Atl.inta Commission on Crime and Juvenile Delinquen~ cy. "Thi~ js the first time the US Depa rtment of Labor has ever paid for any kind 'of program for kids younger than 16," Joy said. Presently job orders and the kids enrolled in the program are about even. We would like to have double the number of job orders we now have, Mrs. Ruyle said, "so before the summer is over we can enroll the 2000 teenagers we have slots for." As job orders increase. enrollment can be increased. Joy is optimistic that 2000 will be enrolled in the program before summer ends . ··• If Atlanta keeps cooperating as it is now. we will get this many enrolled. " She believes the only way Rent-A-Kid could fail anywhere is if a city is not open and warm in its reception of the program as Atlanta is. The Optimsits Club in the metro a rea have given the program a big boost. They have furnished T-shirts with "Rent-A-Kid . across the front. After a teenager works eight hours on a job in the program, he is eligible for one of the · shirts and wears it on his job. A Rent-A-Kid orders are going through a central office this year. The phone number to call is 571-5252: .·-\ I ) _! �