RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS; FROM HEART TO HEART: TEEN VOLUNTEERS AT ST. FRANCIS HEART INSTITUTE

Samantha Kluesner is looking forward to school being out for the summer, but not because she plans on spending all her time sunning at the pool or hanging with friends.

Instead, Kluesner, the 15-year-old daughter of David and Dolly Kluesner of Chaffee, will spend much of this summer volunteering at St. Francis Medical Center's Heart Institute, just as she did last summer.

"I really enjoy working here," said Kluesner as she walked the halls of the Heart Institute. "It's interesting, and the people who work here are great."

The people who work at the Heart Institute think Kluesner is pretty great, too. She volunteered 165 hours last year.

Kluesner joined the hospital's junior volunteer program last June. She initially signed up because she thought volunteer work would look good on her college applications.

"But once I started, I loved it," Kluesner said. She said she met so many great people and got such a good feeling from helping that she could hardly wait to get there each day.

While most junior volunteers work four hours once a week, Kluesner would work an eight-hour day and would come in more than once a week if she was needed, said Pat Miller, director of volunteer services at St. Francis.

And once the school year began, Kluesner, a freshman at Kelso C-7, volunteered whenever there was a school holiday. Miller said only about three junior volunteers do that.

Kluesner, whose father works as a maintenance technician at the hospital, said she would ride in with her father. "I would rather volunteer than sit home watching TV or listening to music all day," Kluesner said.

When volunteering at the Heart Institute, Kluesner transfers patients, files papers, makes charts and works in the reception area.

"She frees up the technical and clerical staff to do things that are more critical," Kerkorian said. "Our case load fluctuates so much, it's hard to staff. An extra pair of hands always helps."

Others said Kluesner's friendly personality brightens the day of staff and patients whenever she works.

From her work in the Heart Institute Kluesner has decided she wants to be a cardiac nurse. At one time she thought about becoming a cardiologist, but after seeing how many hours per week heart specialists work, she's afraid there wouldn't be time left for her other passion, horses.

"But they help so many people," Kluesner said of the staff at the Heart Institute. "I'd like to be part of something like that."