At first glance, it wouldn’t appear that billionaire media mogul Ted Turner of Atlanta and 15-year-old Henry Francisco Salguero of Los Angeles have anything in common. But they do.

Both are philanthropists, in the truest sense of the word. Turner, already a household word in the United States, burnished his image still further with his recent gift of $1 billion to the United Nations.

Few Americans can ever hope to come anywhere close to matching Turner’s gift. But Salguero can be regarded as a role model for Americans who can practice a different form of philanthropy. And employers throughout the country should encourage their workers to emulate the young man.

Salguero didn’t qualify as a philanthropist by giving money to anyone. What he gave, and continues to give, is himself.

Nine years ago, Henry’s mother, a single parent, was desperately looking for a safe place for Henry to go every day after school. She found such a haven at the Assistance League Children’s Club in Hollywood.

For eight years, Henry participated in the subsidized latch-key program at the club. When he reached age 14 and was no longer eligible, Henry didn’t just walk away. Rather than take up the typical after-school pursuits of teenagers, he volunteered to help with kids who were still in the latch-key program.

Every school day for the past year and a half, Henry has assisted children with their homework and in sports activities, helped in the Children’s Club front office, and has even done maintenance work.

All the while, Henry has maintained a 4.0 grade point average at Pacific Palisades High School.

For his selfless performance, Henry will be honored on Nov. 21 as the Outstanding Youth Volunteer of 1997 at the Los Angeles observance of National Philanthropy Day.

It would be unreasonable to expect many Angelenos to be as dedicated as Henry Salguero. But it’s safe to say that a great number would practice his form of philanthropy to a lesser degree if given the incentive and the opportunity to do so by their employers.

No, this isn’t leading up to a suggestion that all employers give their workers time off for the hours they put in for charity and other worthwhile causes. Companies that give compensatory time off are to be commended for doing so. But that isn’t true philanthropy on the part of the workers; rather, it’s just part of their job descriptions. And few smaller businesses can afford this practice.

There are, however, a number of things smaller companies can do to get their workers involved in philanthropic activities. Here are some suggestions:

– Be flexible about the hours employees work. If someone needs to be off in the afternoon to coach Little League, let him or her make up the time by coming in earlier or later in the day.

– If you’re the boss, be a role model. If the president or the owner of the business is involved in some very visible philanthropic activity, he or she will earn the respect of employees and become a positive role model for them.

– Recognize the good works of employees at company events. Everyone likes to be applauded by the boss in front of peers.

– Commend employees in writing for their efforts and add these documents to their personnel files.

– Arrange for lesser-known local charitable organizations to make presentations at the workplace to seek volunteers.

– Match employee contributions to charity. A company’s matching gift program tells employees that their charity is important to the company. If matching would present too heavy a financial burden, such contributions might be substituted for the employer’s normal contributions made directly to charitable organizations.

– Offer some of the company’s services free of charge to charity. Let an organization use the phones at night for solicitations or hosting committee meetings. Make the company’s printing and mailing facilities available.

– Allow charitable organizations to piggy-back onto company advertising. For example, an automobile dealership might devote an eighth of a newspaper page to a local charity.

– Sponsor events such as 10-K marathons or walkathons that would benefit charity and allow employees to participate.

When encouraging workers to practice philanthropy, employers should avoid platitudes. Albert Einstein had the right spirit when he said that “It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out.” But the typical response of an employee, spoken or unsaid, is “Yeah, yeah,” and a yawn.

Instead, remind workers that every good deed will be appreciated by someone, seen or unseen. One way of doing that would be to repeat the story about the young boy who was walking along the beach picking up starfishes that the tide had left behind to die, and throwing them back into the water.

“Why are you doing that?” a passer-by asked. “There are so many, it doesn’t make any difference.”

Picking up another starfish, the boy replied, “It does to this one.”

Terry Murphy is the chair of National Philanthropy Day.