Cindy Rhoades spent the last two months worrying about the possibility of "smushed" students at a busy school bus stop in Tamaqua.

She was so worried she tried every official avenue that came to mind police, the elementary school principal, the director of transportation for the school district and other parents.But while all agreed the situation could be dangerous, no one had any answers."Kids were running up and down the 300 block of Hazle Street, darting out from between parked cars, playing football in the street. They're just kids, having fun before school, but the street is busy with traffic and I constantly worried one of them would get smushed," Rhoades said.She tried the police department, which increased patrols, but she said, "As soon as the police officer left, the kids were back in the street, maybe about a dozen or more of them.""Tamaqua Area School District officials told me it was the parents' problem. Two parents come to the bus stop daily with their kids, but the other children aren't going to listen to them. I didn't know where else to turn or what to do next," Rhoades said.Rhoades, an employee of Boyer's Food Market in Tamaqua, hasn't always been home in the mornings to see the problem, but two months ago, she was diagnosed with a severe kidney disease.Unable to work, she enjoyed listening to the banter of the children and envied their carefree antics, until noticing the heavy traffic."I couldn't stand the thought of one of them being hit by a car," she said.After one particularly harrowing morning, she hit upon a solution, provide an alternative most kids wouldn't refuse, a treat. Thus began her "Take A Treat, Stay Off the Street" program.Now, several mornings a week, Rhoades interacts with the children, offering them a small snack to eat while waiting for the bus."It's amazing," she said. "The kids sit on the porch, eating their snack and we have real conversations. We're getting to know each other and I've tried to explain how dangerous playing in the street can be."We all agree, if someone would happen to be struck by a car, it's a horrible memory we could never erase."Rhoades is determined to do what she can, for as long as she can, to keep the children on her street safe.