Nancy Churnin

Think of it as a junior version of the United Nations in Fort Worth. The Kids Who Care theater company, launched by actress Deborah Jung in a church basement with a lot of faith and absolutely no money, has been hosting children from other countries for 19 years.

"The very first summer, we had three teenage Italian boys come," Ms. Jung remembers, explaining that the group's global flair began when she went to the mayor's office with the idea of inviting children from one of Fort Worth's sister cities. The Italian teens "had no clue about theater, but they thought Texas was an adventure. Because of them, we put Italian words in the show. We fell so in love with this international flavor, after they left, we raised funds and traveled to their city in Reggio Emilia, Italy, to perform."

The theater company now has an annual budget of $650,000. Its newest show, Earth and Soul: A Musical Revolution, updates the company's 1990 original musical about how to save the environment with fresh input from 83 kids, ages 6 to 18, from the resident company and 51 from countries around the world, including Albania, Tunisia, Hungary, Finland, Spain, Kenya, Scotland, Israel, and, of course, Italy.

Meeting kids from other countries has been one of the highlights for Jean-Paul Paddock, 16, of Fort Worth, who has been performing with the company since he was 4 years old.

"Some of the best friends I have ever had are overseas," Jean-Paul says. "It's amazing that you can know someone for a month and identify with them so much."

And while most of the kids from other countries left after the four-week July session, the Kids Who Care resident company (whose members hail from several cities, including Fort Worth, Arlington, Granbury, Hurst, Keller and Grapevine) will present the show tonight at the Scott Theatre in Fort Worth.

Later, they will tour it throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area and take it to Washington, D.C., in March. There, they hope to meet with national leaders to talk about the ideas for helping the environment that the children put into the musical. It's the story of kids who journey to the center of the Earth, told in a series of songs, poems and vignettes.

For Ms. Jung, fostering friendship is as big a goal as putting on the show. She encourages the local kids and the kids from other countries to talk about concerns and worries, hopes and dreams. But they keep it fun, too.

"We will have different groups act out a fairy tale in their own language, and we have to guess what it is. We have one night when all the international kids cook something from their country," Ms. Jung says.

This year's feast featured homemade sausage from Italy, hummus from Israel and potato soup from Finland.

That was one of the highlights for Michele Newman.

"I made friends with a little boy from Hungary who has red hair just like me," says the 12-year-old from Grapevine. "I was helping him throughout the show because he didn't speak really good English. His mom made really cool dessert things. I don't remember what they are called, but they were made with a chocolate powder, and they were really good!"

We talked to some of the youngsters

from Kids Who Care who shared their thoughts on how to save the environment in real life:

"I recycle at home a lot. I am also trying to start a recycling program here at the Scott Theatre. I've noticed there is so much paper used with our old scripts that could be used for other things."

"One of the messages in the play is about how important it is to spend time outdoors and appreciate the environment. I told the other kids that I had never been camping. And now we're making plans to go camping. I'm really looking forward to that."

"I recycle at home a lot. I recycle Coke cans and bottles and newspapers. It's important not to just throw away all this stuff."

"I turn off the water when I'm brushing my teeth and turn off the lights when I'm not in the room. I also try to carpool. That way you save money on gas, it doesn't put a lot of gas in the air and it's fun to talk to the other people in the car."

"I've been learning a lot of things that are wrong with what we're doing from doing this show. I think doing a show like Earth and Soul is a great way to help other people see the beauty of the Earth and what could happen in the future if we destroy it."

"The inspiring part of the show is that it tells you the future of the planet is in our hands. It embraces the concept of how different people can do different things and how we can come up with solutions to our problems if we do this together."