DAILY NEWS PEOPLE : CRYSTAL CARSON.

Byline: - Holly Andres

Crystal Carson is a volunteer with the American Cancer Society. She is a board member with the organization's San Fernando Valley Unit. Initially, speaking engagements on behalf of the ACS were the focus of her volunteering. But six years ago, she wanted to do something spectacular to raise a lot of money. She enlisted fellow actors and colleagues to take part in a casino night called ``Take a Chance With the Stars.'' Fans would get a chance to meet and gamble with their favorite local soap-opera stars as well as contribute money to the ACS. Over the years, she has been able to persuade more soap stars, the crew from the current ``Star Trek'' television show and well-known actors such as James Woods to lend their name and support to the event. Carson hopes to add more big-name stars to the sixth annual event, which will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 17 at the LAX Westin Hotel.

Age: ``Late 20s, early 30s.''

RESIDENCE: Van Nuys.

BORN AND RAISED IN: She was born in Spalding, Neb., and raised in Lincoln, Neb.

OCCUPATION: Carson is an actress, acting teacher and coach. She can be seen as recurring character Julia Barrett on ``General Hospital.'' She teaches acting classes at Margie Haber Studios in Los Angeles.

MARITAL STATUS: Married to Peter S. Bradley II, a systems analyst.

CHILDREN: None.

VOLUNTEERISM: Carson has toured the country speaking to American Cancer Society volunteer gatherings and other organizations. She was the national spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society's Discovery Shops in 1991.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED?: Carson's father died when she was 7 from a rare form of bone cancer, osteosarcoma. ``As I understand it, it's considered nongenetic, there is no known cause, and it strikes people between the ages of 10 and 25. I remember my mom dragging us door to door to collect for the Cancer Society. That's my earliest involvement with them. When I moved to California, I knew there must be something that I could do here. I picked up the phone and offered my services.''

WHY DO YOU VOLUNTEER?: ``I volunteer because I feel I'm giving something back. The American Cancer Society helped my dad with rides to treatments, recommending better doctors, helped with obtaining medications. It made a difference in my dad's life. I believe the more I worry about how I'm doing in my life, the more miserable I am. But the more I worry about how others are doing, the happier I get ... I feel like I'm doing something of value, and it's really a lot of fun. I enjoy enrolling people as volunteers for the benefit. We have such a great time with the event. We feel like we're making the world a better place.''

MOST DIFFICULT DAILY TASK: ``My most difficult tasks are getting my guts up to make the phone calls to potential sponsors of the event. It's humiliating sometimes. They ask, `What's in it for me?' But I need to make the calls.''

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Carson said that a big disappointment now is that one of her friends, diagnosed with the same rare cancer that her father died of, is struggling with her current outlook. ``When I gave my speeches around the country, I used my friend Christine as a cancer success story. Now I feel like I want to scream at God. Why hasn't there been a breakthrough yet? I feel like I've worked hard to save her, and now I feel like I've failed her.''

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: ``My greatest accomplishment so far is the numbers of people that I've brought into the fight against cancer. What's so great is the age range, lots of people in their 20s and 30s. The group of people that I've got are of different backgrounds, and many are in lower-income brackets. But they're thinking philanthropically now. You don't have to have a lot of money to be a volunteer. It's very exciting to get people interested in making a difference.''

GOALS FOR THE FUTURE: ``My personal goal is I would love to become an `everyday' name and get on a sitcom. I would like to be considered a major contributor toward the end of cancer. If my career goal came to pass, I would take my volunteering to a whole other echelon of contributions.''

ROLE MODELS: Carson credits her mom as being her role model. ``She's wonderful at letting you be you and yet guiding by her experiences. She tells me about her experience with something, and that leaves me free to decide whether or not to do something.''

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?: ``Success is knowing who you are and moving toward the actions that exercise who you are as a person.''

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Photo: Crystal Carson

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News