My heroes are all those people who have come out of the woodwork to support Quest and all that it stands for.

Dr. Karpowitz, stand up and take a bow - no, take two or three. This lovely, busy man volunteered to help set up a small pediatric clinic. When I e-mailed him my proposal, I said, "How would you like to do more work and get no money?" And he e-mailed me back and said "Sounds like a plan. Let's meet and work out the details."

And here he is with his stethoscope standing beside me, wearing his famous sneakers and offering to let these clamorous children listen to their own heartbeat. And then there was the little girl that kept telling him that Nemo was in her ears and he would take his little light and shine it in both of her ears and say "He's all gone now. We got him out." And the little girl would laugh and say, "Uh oh, he's back again."

"I think I've made a friend" he said, as he patiently bent over and did it again ... and again.

Then there's T.J., the crazy lady with the long gray hair, who sat there patiently today while six children (male and female) braided her hair. This operation took a long, long time, and as they twisted and turned her long gray locks, she explained to them the difference in hair texture.

"Mine's much stiffer than yours," she said. And they laughed, not thinking of her as an important person, but just another playmate with special hair.

She made me cry later when she said she's getting her hair cut soon.

"My daughter and I grow our hair for Locks of Love," she said.

Just when I think I really know her, she surprises and knocks me down and leaves me breathless with admiration.

A real unsung hero is my husband, Brian. Handyman extrordinaire, waiting quietly in the backround until I call, hysterical, as always.

"The car's dead in the parking lot," or "The freezer isn't freezing," or "The toilets overflowing," or "Where's the Christmas tree?" "When are you coming? Hurry, hurry. Get here soon."

And then he appears with his box of tools and shy, quiet demeanor and he fixes everything, and I mean everything. He's donated weeks of his life to make us a kitchen from a square cement room, rip down walls in our dance/arts room, and paint everything in sight any color I want.

I bring the coffee hot and fresh, and he journeys on often eight or nine hours at a stretch. Sometimes he brings the dog for company, but he always has coffee and his radio, and always his patience and dependability.

And all the parents and kids and stray people who come by and say, "Hi! Remember me? What can I do today to help?" And they do help. They may shoot some baskets with the kids or sweep the floor, or help serve food or mop or read a story.

"Come again" we say "You were great. Thank you." And they smile and shift their feet and shake hands, and sometimes we never see them again, but sometimes we do - and either way it's fine. That makes them all a part of Quest's long line of heroes.

There's Gloria, who brings cookies, and bakes the most extraodinary cakes and does face painting and joins our neighborhood walks and goes with me to Head Start so we can do the grandparents program. She is a grandparent, too, after all, raising her grandson with her four other children. And cooking up a storm, a cyclone, a hurricane, a blizzard of homemade goodies. All made of love and popping fresh.

And Linda - you know who you are, my secret hero - thank you. Take a little bow. Please.

And Joe G. , patiently trying to raise money for us.

And Fred and Katie, thank you. Thank all of you.

What a group of greatness. How about it; give them a hand. And while you're at it, give us a hand. This commercial could be bought and prepared by you. Come on down. Share some stories. Sing some songs, hold a little kid on your lap. Teach a big kid how to shoot a better basket. Help the kids organize a car wash.

Hometown heroes, hometown help, hometown industry. I keep saying these are all our kids, this is our community. You must be real tired of hearing me say the same old tired mantra. Well, frankly, I'm getting tired of hearing myself repeating the same words eternally, all while waiting for a miracle.

I love those old corny movies - you know, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, those classic "Let's put on a show" flicks. Or the ones where the girl is tied to to the railroad tracks but is rescued seconds before the train comes.

Well, Quest is on the tracks, tied down, the train is coming, and the kids are yelling, "Save us, save us."

We got a letter today from the diocese, saying we have no lease and no claim to our space and we can be asked to leave at anytime. What's really odd is the motto at the bottom of the letter: "We are God's People sharing a responsibility to witness God's unconditional love and to bring Christ's healing presence to our world."

Let's all of us as God's People step up and be a hero in a child's eyes.

QUEST is a community-based organization that provides a safe environment, free meals, counseling, art and recreation programs that keep Hamilton Hill children in school, out of trouble and on track for better lives. For more information on QUEST, visit www.questkids.net.