TEENS : Volunteer Fever : Increasingly, youths are seeking grass-roots solutions to knotty social problems.

Erin Kandel is too young to drive, vote or buy a lottery ticket, but that doesn’t stop her from making the world a better place.

The 15-year-old from Encino comforts battered women in shelters, distributes meals to the homeless at soup kitchens and visits residents of nursing homes. She organizes clothing drives for the needy, cleans up graffiti around the community and travels to high schools to talk to students about AIDS. She was packing groceries for Los Angeles riot victims before the smoke had even cleared.

“I just can’t sit home watching TV when terrible things are happening to people,” says Kandel, a student at Campbell Hall, a private high school in North Hollywood. “So I get busy.”

Teen-agers like Kandel are increasingly rolling up their sleeves and seeking grass-roots solutions to knotty social problems. According to a 1991 study sponsored by UCLA and the American Council on Education, almost 65% of the nation’s college freshmen volunteered during their high school senior year, and almost 15% plan to continue community service activities.

“Students are interested in individual action,” says Eric Dey, associate director of UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute. “They work to change the political system, influence social values and clean up the environment.”

“Kids are sophisticated today,” adds Lynn S. Weiss, director of volunteer programs for the Volunteer Center of the San Fernando Valley.

“They see problems in their communities, and they want to go out and solve the problems. Volunteering empowers them as vehicles of change.”

Young activists in the Valley are especially concerned about the environment, poverty, health care and helping other children, according to Weiss.

“Teen-agers can do a lot to help the community and other kids,” says Campbell Hall student Lisa Hand, 15, of Tarzana, who volunteers as a baseball coach to disabled children.

“When they run toward home (plate), we all cheer and their faces are so lit up,” she says. “It’s neat to know that by giving them attention, I am making a big difference in their lives.”

In some cases, students take up volunteering because they have to. Many schools in the Valley require 30, 40 or more hours of community service for graduation.

“But most students enjoy giving back to their community so much; they end up doing many, many more hours,” says Soni Wright, Campbell Hall’s director of community service. “It is really a broadening of their education. Through hands-on outreach, they are exposed to environmental and social issues. They really see what’s going on beyond their normal class or home experiences.”

Diego Sustaita, 18, a student at Viewpoint School in Calabasas, volunteers three days a week at a Simi Valley wildlife rehabilitation facility for sick and injured animals.

“My work isn’t glamorous--cleaning cages and preparing food--but every day I learn something new about all kinds of animals,” he says. “And I am working outside, directly helping nature. I plan to do it as long as I can.”

Viewpoint junior Remesh Nathan, 16, of Westlake Village volunteers four hours a week at Westlake Medical Center.

He delivers meals to patients, runs errands and performs clerical tasks. He has already contributed more than 150 hours to the hospital, well above the 45 hours required for graduation.

“It’s not a burden at all,” he says. “I like it. I meet all these patients, and I know all the nurses. I plan to be a radiologist, and this is really a good way to see how the medical field works.”

Career-minded teen-agers derive valuable experience from community service, according to Jordan Katz, 18, who attends Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City. Katz, who is considering becoming a politician, volunteers as an intern for Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar). (They are not related.)

“I’m exposed to all kinds of experience in Katz’s office,” the younger Katz says. “I have a phone and a computer, and I pump letters out to constituents. I even wrote a letter to Gorbachev and I went to a press conference.”

Everyone benefits from youth activism, according to Barbara Gardner, director of volunteer services at the Medical Center of North Hollywood, which opens its doors to 35 teen-age volunteers.

“They are a tremendous asset to our staff,” she says. “And the teens--our future health care leaders--get an on-the-job, first-hand look at the health care industry. They are truly a delightful group of young people.”

Veena Reddy, 18, a senior at Grant High School in North Hollywood, volunteers 15 hours a week at the medical center. She admits that her heavy volunteer load cuts deeply into her spare time, but she’s not complaining.

“I don’t get to talk on the phone with my friends and I don’t go out much,” she says. “But I like to see the nurses’ big smiles when I help them.”

‘WHERE TO GO’

Information: These sources provide information on volunteering:

The Volunteer Center of the San Fernando Valley publishes “Project Luv,” a directory of teen-age volunteer opportunities in the Valley, Burbank and Glendale. Directories are distributed free to schools and libraries. Call (818) 908-5066.

The Points of Light Foundation publishes a free booklet on volunteering. Call (800) 879-5400.

Volunteering

The Valley Storefront Multiservice Center for Seniors, 12821 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, needs volunteer instructors to teach acting, watercolor painting and clothing decoration to active seniors approximately 1 to 2 hours per week during the day. Call Judy Raffel at (818) 984-1380.

Humana Hospital West Hills, 7300 Medical Center Drive, West Hills, needs volunteers to serve in a variety of capacities on weekdays, evenings and on weekends. Training will be provided. Call Claire Plunkett at (818) 712-4169.

The Burbank Family YMCA, 321 E. Magnolia Blvd., needs volunteers to train as tutors for a newly planned literacy program with emphasis on English as a second language. Tutors will be trained to use phonics, pictures, puzzles and stories to teach English. The next scheduled tutor training session will begin Aug. 27. Call Jeanette Matthews at (818) 845-8551.

International Guiding Eyes, 13445 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar, an organization that trains and provides guide dogs free of charge to legally blind people, needs volunteers to raise puppies from eight weeks to approximately 15 months of age with lots of love and to teach the dogs basic obedience skills and socialization. Call (818) 362-5834.

TreePeople needs volunteers to prune and water trees and clean tree wells along Ventura Boulevard in Encino from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Call (818) 784-9308 for further details.