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OIC's national clergy committee will initiate the rallies in local churches with the involvement of elected officials; business, industry, and community leaders; organizations; and interested citizens.

At the rallies, and over a 100-day campaign, unemployed youths will be matched with specific job opportunities within firms ranging from major corporations to small local businesses and then enlisted to undertake OIC training to qualify them for the pledged employment. Simultaneously, attempts will be made to obtain one million signatures appealing for Presidential and Congressional action to establish a national youth policy with adequate funding.

The campaign is aimed at reaching school drop-outs, juvenile offenders, welfare family youths and young veterans under 21 years of age.

"America has three million unemployed young people," Rev. Sullivan declared, "and up to 60 percent of our minority youths are unemployed. The danger of a permanent underclass of Americans swelling the welfare rolls and overflowing the unemployment offices is one we cannot afford to ignore." 

Citing OIC's 15-year history of providing job training for some 500,000 individuals, one-third of whom came off the welfare rolls, the black Baptist minister, who is on the board of General Motors, said he would personally "knock on the doors" of major industrialists as he did when he solicited the job pledges which enabled him to establish the first OIC self-help facility in 1964 in Philadelphia. 

"Only this time," he noted, "I have the backing of an OIC national industrial advisory council representing more than 30 of America's top business enterprises.

"The strategy of this program," Rev. Sullivan said, "is simple. One million youths, holding productive jobs, will add billions and billions of dollars in new wages and taxes to the American economy."

The job pledges and appeal signatures generated by the campaign are to be presented to President Carter during OIC's annual convocation June 10-14 in Washington by a committee of 100 clergy leaders representing all faiths and denominations. At the same time, senators and congressmen will be petitioned and Vice President Mondale and House Speaker Tip O'Neill will be asked to receive the appeals on behalf of their colleagues in a ceremony on the steps of the Capitol Building.

Rev. Sullivan told the press that it will take OIC five years to reach the goal of one million youths placed on jobs "if we get the support we need from the private sector, the prime sponsors, the states and the federal government." He said the "Help Our Youth" campaign will involve all other community-based organizations of demonstrated effectiveness in job training and job placement, to the extent that they wish to participate. "Their participation will be welcome," he said.

Approximately 5,000 delegates and supporters are expected to attend the June convocation.

"We hope to stir the consciences and lift the sights of the decision-makers and our nation's leaders beyond 'meat-ax' percentage cuts in the federal budget. We want them to be selective in their anti-inflation targeting and not sacrifice our youth on the altar of anti-inflation policies and balanced budgets," rev. Sullivan said.

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