Bennett High School grad leads CARE's fight on poverty: FOCUS: INTERNATIONAL AID.

Byline: Jerry Zremski

Jun. 17--WASHINGTON -- After 60 years of throwing lifelines to victims of war and famine, the charity famous for the CARE package has taken on a far broader and more daunting challenge: saving the world's impoverished women.

And a Bennett High School graduate, who last year became the first woman and the first African- American to head the organization, is leading the fight.

Helene D. Gayle, whose first job was working at her father's Jefferson Avenue beauty supply shop, now manages a massive charity with annual revenues of $646 million and 13,000 employees nationwide.

As if performing triage in the world's trouble spots was not hard enough, Gayle now is traveling the world to continue CARE's effort to deal with poverty at its roots.

"You've got to focus on what are the root causes to begin with and try to yank those roots up so that poverty doesn't keep growing back," Gayle said in a recent appearance at the National Press Club.

The plan is bold, but it -- and its leader -- are getting plenty of praise and support.

"Helene's not just an amazing physician and an amazing…