Service is her heart's calling for Hollace Francy

Being involved and immersing herself in community projects is Hollace Francy's natural state of being.

Francy, 18, of Locust Valley High School, has excelled in academics and sports while maintaining a full schedule of community activities, serving leading roles and fundraising for events such as the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. She received the school's service award four years in a row.

And she has a part-time job.

As chair of the school blood drive, Francy organized nine collection drives. This year her school won the Gold Award from the Long Island Blood Center for the amount of blood collected and the strong participation rate in their community. She also was awarded a scholarship of $500 and was eligible for another $250 because she stepped in to run her parish blood drive. Francy turned the opportunity down because she believed in what she was doing and that was enough for her, said Karen Muscolino, the center's director of donor recruitment. "This student is incredible," Muscolino added.

Francy also has devoted her time to the school paper, Spectrum, helping to put out more pages than in any other year and managed to find time for her other passions -- serving as foreman for the stage crew and playing trumpet and French horn in different musical groups.

Her plans:She will attend Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, and join the college newspaper.

In her words: "It's so pointless to do service if you are not passionate about it. You should be doing service for your own reasons, self-actualization and not just selfish needs. It's much more fulfilling if you do it for the right reasons."

The view from the guidance office:"I've never seen anybody like this before," said guidance counselor Lisa Marie Pasquale. "She's run record-breaking blood drives. Her grades are way over the top. She's blinding. . . . She's going to run the Peace Corps some day."