NEW YORK, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Going clean and green means more to Rocio Garcia, a 19-year-old girl from the Dominican Republic supported by Children International, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization.

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River clean-up and tree-planting campaigns have propelled the teen from a slum outside Santo Domingo to the United States to attend International Youth Day on August 12 at the United Nations. She has led her local youth program to restore the river quality and tree population that was stripped during rapid development in her city. As a result, Rocio will attend the 5th Annual Youth Assembly, which is a gathering of hundreds of youth seeking ways to accomplish the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, one of which is to ensure environmental sustainability.

Rocio lives in a poor area in Santo Domingo and knows the plight of crushing poverty. Her father is deceased, and her mother works as a maid to earn $100 a month to support her family. A trip to New York is a dream come true for Rocio since she has never left her home, much less traveled on an airplane.

"I never would have dreamed of this for myself. My dream has always been to support myself and my family when I leave school. This opportunity to join other sponsored youth in the United States is more than I have ever thought of doing," said Rocio.

Three other teens from Children International will join Rocio at the International Youth Day celebration -- Jiyaul Piyada from India, Lara Villanueva from the Philippines, and Charday from the United States. They will join 700 other young adults attending the Youth Assembly and will lead a workshop to discuss their environmental projects.

Jim Cook, Children International President and CEO said, "I am so proud of Rocio and all our youth. They have risen from the depths of incredible poverty to become leaders in their own communities."

To learn more about the sponsored teens attending the 5th Annual Youth Assembly, visit International Youth Day 2008.

To learn more about Children International's Youth Empowerment Funds, visit Youth Program.

To learn more about sponsoring a child, visit http://www.children.org.

About Children International:
Established in 1936, Children International is a nonprofit organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International's programs benefit over 300,000 poor children and their families in 11 countries around the world, including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Zambia and the United States. To sponsor a child living in poverty, visit http://www.children.org today.

Children International

Children International

Established in 1936, Children International is a humanitarian organization which invests in more than 335,000 children and youth living in crushing poverty in 11 countries around the world. Children International's signature programs provide medical and dental care, nutritional support and educational tools to children beginning at age 3 to 19. Children International's youth programs provide youth with training necessary to escape the trap of poverty as adults -- job-skills training, higher education support, personal financial education, sports leagues and leadership and life skills training.

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