Fundraiser for Butler-Tarkington neighborhood summer jobs program

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A local man is raising money for a summer teen jobs program, and he’s asking for some help. 

The fundraiser is for a program called the Tarkington Teen Work Crew that was created last year with the help of some grants. 

The program is based out of the Martin Luther King Junior Center in the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood. 

The program provides summer jobs for kids ages 13 to 17 who live within one mile of the MLK Center. 

According to the executive director, when the program was created, they thought 10 kids would be interested, they had more than 30. 

Those kids had part-time jobs cleaning up parks and the neighborhood. 

A man who lives in the neighborhood saw what the kids were doing and wanted to help so he started a fundraiser. 

So far, he’s raised more than $11,000.

“It seemed like one of those organic, here’s a problem, let’s try a solution kind of projects. So, I was really more a fan living nearby, being in the area a lot and seeing what they were doing, I sort of stored it away as something I could help with later on,” said Pablo Svirsky, the man fundraising. 

According to the MLK Center, it costs approximately $1,000 to give a teen a job for the summer. The money goes to paying the teen, their supervisor and supplies. 

In addition the part-time jobs, the kids in the program go to tutoring and attend classes on financial literacy and conflict resolution. 

If you’d like to donate, click here.