Way to Go! Rebecca Allen of Roslyn High School

Rebecca Allen knows firsthand about the dangers of eating disorders.

Allen, a Roslyn High School senior, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa in 2006, and missed the start of her freshman year because she was admitted to Schneider Children's Hospital. Since then, Allen initiated the idea for Project HEAL - Help to Eat, Accept and Live - a nonprofit that gives money to people battling eating disorders who can't afford treatment, which can be $30,000 a month, she said. So far, she's raised some $100,000.

"Insurance rarely covers eating disorders," Allen, 17, said. "I saw people firsthand being turned down for treatment."

In the fall, Allen - with Project HEAL co-founders Kristina Saffran, a high school student in Queens, and Liana Rosenman, a college freshman from Suffolk - held a brunch at Carlyle on the Green in Farmingdale that raised $26,000 via raffles and a silent auction. A charity brunch with former Mets and Yankees is set for May 23.

Allen is president of her school's Peer Drug Educators Club and a member of the Global Awareness Club, speech team, and Foreign Language and National Honor societies. She was recently one of eight distinguished finalists statewide in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.