For Charles Manders, 71, helping children cross the street on their way to and from school isn’t just a good deed.

It’s his job.

Manders, a retired Ames citizen, has been working for the Ames Police Department as a crossing guard for five years, and he doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.

“You gotta love the job,” he said.

Manders said after he retired, he heard that the police department was looking for crossing guards. He contacted Tammy Hyer, the Ames crossing guard coordinator.

And since that day in 1994, he has been at the intersection of Ninth Street and Grand Avenue every morning and afternoon.

Manders is one of about 13 retirees working as crossing guards in Ames, Hyer said.

She said the crossing guard position gives retired people something to do without demanding too many hours. “They are wonderful,” she said.

In his years of being a crossing guard, Manders said he has gotten to know the children quite well. He said he enjoys helping out the children and seeing them every day.

Hyer said most of the senior citizens involved find out about the jobs by word-of-mouth from friends or other crossing guards.

She has found that most of the seniors seek the jobs because they enjoy children, love the outdoors and want to do a service for the community.

The guards not only make sure the children cross safely but teach them safety in crossing streets when there is no crossing guard, Hyer said.

“We have the guards at the stoplights train the kids on how to push the walk button and wait for the walk signal,” she said.

Although the guards are not at all streets that elementary children cross, they are posted throughout Ames at the major intersections.

“We have the guards covering the busy crossings,” Hyer said.

Hyer said the police department has been hiring seniors to fill the positions for a long time. “We have been doing it since I got here nine years ago and even before that,” she said.

Most of the seniors stick with the job for a long period of time once they start.

Hyer said she can really count on the retirees.

In her years of work, Hyer said she has found that the retirees’ work ethic is “a heck of a lot” better than most young people.

“Once they take on a job, they are there to do it,” she said, adding that they are reliable and do the job well. “Their main focus is to look out for those children.”