Continuing in our extensive coverage of charities who are premiering Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith on May 12 in 10 cities across the United States and utilizing the event to raise critical funds and awareness for issues affecting children and families, here's a closer look at one of the participating charities: City Year.

City Year began in 1988 to demonstrate, promote and share the power of service to community and country. City Year's mission is to build democracy through citizen service, civic leadership and social entrepreneurship. The signature program, the City Year youth service corps, unites more than 1,000 young adults -- ages ranging from 17 to 24 -- from diverse backgrounds for a demanding year of full-time community service, leadership development, and civic engagement. These young leaders serve in 15 sites in the United States and one in South Africa. They put their idealism to work as tutors and mentors to school children, leading transformative physical service projects, and organizing after-school programs, school vacation camps and civic engagement initiatives for young people.

City Year, Inc. is also pursuing its citizen service, civic leadership and social entrepreneurship mission through public policy outreach, international initiatives, Serve-a-thon civic engagement fundraisers, and by helping businesses engage in community service through their Care Force initiative.

"City Year's vision is that citizens of all ages and backgrounds will unite to serve their community, nation, and world, and that one day the most commonly asked question of an eighteen-year-old will be, 'Where are you going to do your service year?'" Senior Corporate Partnerships Manager Sarah Reinstein says.

Lead investors in City Year include The Atlantic Philanthropies, Bank of America, Cisco Systems, Comcast, CSX, and The Timberland Company. City Year is a proud member of AmeriCorps.

On May 12, City Year and Lucasfilm Ltd. will join forces for the Boston premiere of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. More than 600 citizen supporters, business and community leaders, and their families will convene for the final episode of the Star Wars saga at the new, state-of-the-art Loews Theatres Boston Common.

City Year will host a series of high-visibility events around the Boston Star Wars premiere, including a pre-premiere celebration. Following the show, guests will dance the night away at FELT, one of Boston's hippest nightspots. Guests will each receive gift bags filled with all kinds of Star Wars novelty items. City Year will also host an online auction in conjunction with the event, with terminals at the event to allow on-site bidding.

"We are honored that City Year has been selected by Lucasfilm for this partnership," said City Year CEO Alan Khazei. "A sense of limitless imagination characterizes the Star Wars movies and inspires the audience. At City Year we believe in the tremendous potential of young people and the power of idealism to inspire citizen service. Of course, I'm also a huge fan and excited to see the movie."

Funds raised from this special Star Wars event will benefit City Year Boston, enabling young people to put their idealism to work for Boston's children and neighborhoods by serving as mentors and tutors for children in partnership with public schools, by organizing and running afterschool , weekend and school vacation programs and by leading physical service projects such as planting community gardens, renovating community centers and building play spaces.

Star Wars fans who cannot attend the May 12 event but want to support City Year can visit the official site here for more information on how to get involved. Volunteer opportunities are also posted here.

For a complete list of the other participating charities, click here.