The dozen or so gang members who have called a Pittsburgh hotline seeking help turning their lives around now have another option available to them -- jobs subsidized by businessman and former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Chuck Sanders.

Chuck Sanders Charities said Monday that it's giving $100,000 to an employment fund supporting the city's anti-gang program, the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime or PIRC. The formal announcement will be made at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Mr. Sanders' home church, Macedonia Baptist, in the Hill District.

"I know it is easy to ask these young men and women to put down the guns and stop the crime. However, we must show them, as well as offer, alternatives to their current way of living," Mr. Sanders said in a statement.

The program, modeled on a similar heralded effort in Boston, takes a zero-tolerance approach to gang-related homicides.

About 55 members of 37 gangs citywide were summoned to meetings July 13. They were told that a murder committed by a member of any gang would bring a police crackdown on all members of that gang.

At the same time, gang members were offered comprehensive social services and a chance to turn their lives around. That's where Mr. Sanders' gift fits in. The money will be used to help pay wages that reformed gang members earn at jobs provided by community groups and businesses.

Previously, the community groups were expected to pay wages themselves. Mr. Sanders' donation may encourage gang members to participate and others to donate, officials said.

"It's an extra carrot for them," Joanna Doven, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's spokeswoman, said of gang members considering a new start.

"We're extremely grateful. We're thankful," she added, for Mr. Sanders' help in "reaching out to our young people who want to change their path."

So far, Ms. Doven said, an encouraging 12 or so gang members have called a special hotline to inquire about social services, such as job-readiness training.

Mr. Sanders grew up in Homewood and Penn Hills and graduated from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. In the mid-1980s, he played two seasons for the Steelers as a running back and special-teams player.

His offer to help the anti-gang program came out of the blue, Councilman Ricky Burgess, an early PIRC supporter, said. "He read about the program. He called me. He's from Homewood, escaped some of the same problems this population faces, and he wanted to be a part," Mr. Burgess said.

In 1998, Mr. Sanders and his wife, Elisa Todd Sanders, founded North Side-based Urban Settlement Services Inc., which describes itself as the nation's largest minority-owned settlement services company.

"The overall objective here is to help PIRC participants avoid violence and crime, while legitimately providing for themselves and carrying the PIRC message of non-violence back to their respective groups and communities," Mr. Sanders said.

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