Raised to always give back, Meghan Allen spent most of her early teenage years volunteering with more than 30 charitable organizations, from facilitating blood drives for the American Red Cross to helping nurses in the emergency room at Simi Valley Hospital.

Now 18, the Simi Valley High School graduate is sharing her passion through a Web site that helps other teens find volunteer opportunities throughout Ventura County.

"I have volunteered many places and one of my gifts is the ability to find volunteer opportunities," said Allen, who hopes that by making volunteer options more abundant and available through http://www.uthcare.org, more teens will get involved.

"I started searching around and I found that there is no plain and simple way for teens to find volunteer opportunities. So I started with where I volunteered and then I spread out from there."

Rather than posting only a select few organizations, Allen lists opportunities for organizations big and small, from the American Cancer Society to local animal shelters.

"Also, I have it organized by categories to make it more user friendly," she said.

The Web site makes it much easier for high school students to get involved, said Ken Hibbitts of Westlake Village, Allen's government and economics teacher at Simi High.

"The common view is that young people only care about themselves," Hibbitts said. "Meghan shows that high school students want to help others. Her Web site makes doing that easier."

Allen has touched the entire community, said preschool teacher Wendy Waugh of Simi Valley, who once taught Allen.

"She is informing all of us that these opportunities are as versatile and unique as we are, so everyone can volunteer at some time or another and really enjoy it," Waugh said.

"In an age where many young people say, What's in it for me?' Meg has always looked outward and beyond because she knows in her heart what you give comes back to you," she said.

The Web site is proof of Allen's dedication and creativity, Waugh said.

"From its very inception, this Web site has been her baby. She created even the smallest details and did the legwork to get her business license and promoted and advertised it," Waugh said. "Because of her many experiences volunteering in our community, she has seen the benefit not only to those people and organizations she has helped but to herself."

Many students want volunteer experiences on their resumes and college applications, "and Meghan gave them a central site where they can find many opportunities to get involved," said Sherrill Knox of Ventura, who was activities director at Simi High when she met Allen three years ago.

"Her Web site helps students get connected to volunteer opportunities in a method that they are accustomed to: the Internet," Knox said. "Adolescents don't walk door to door anymore to find opportunities; they search the Web."

Now that she is finished with high school, Allen plans to attend California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, where she will major in biochemistry and molecular biology. After college, she wants to become a neurosurgeon.

"There are not many women in that field, and I hope to make a difference in as many lives as I get the opportunity to," said Allen, who lives with her mother, Debbie Allen, and spends time on the weekends with her father, Jay Allen of Camarillo.

"I want to thank my mom so much for all her selfless acts and for all the struggles she has gone through that she still makes time to always support my dreams; she is my ultimate role model," Allen said. "I also want to thank my dad for being supportive with my site and helping me financially get started."

Her ultimate goal with the Web site is to increase teen volunteerism.

"I truly believe that all teens have the potential to change lives for the better," she said, "and I am hoping that, through my Web site, they can be placed in situations where they can shine."