Samaritan

Michael Kogan, born in Russia, raised in Israel, dreamed of coming to America. He arrived four years ago, but didn't discover the kindness of Americans until tragedy struck. Kogan, 28, came on a student visa to join his parents, who had received green cards. He got a driver's license but was not allowed to work. He was taking classes at CMG Computer Center on Street Road. On the night of April 16, as a favor, Michael had followed a friend to Jersey City, where the friend dropped off a car, and was driving him back to Philadelphia early in the morning.

LAST season, the Phillies were playing the Brewers at home on Ryan Howard Bobblehead night. My granddaughter was given tickets to the game from her elementary school, and she asked me, her Pop, to attend the game with her, and I did. It was raining off and on all day, the game was delayed for about an hour, but was eventually played. After the game, as we left the stadium, instead of making a left, I turned right, got lost and couldn't find my car. I asked every parking attendant I saw for help, to no avail.

IT'S HARD not to be moved by the tragedy of Joseph Kelly Sr., who died early last week while rescuing Jeffrey Williams on the Vine Street Expressway. Joseph Kelly Sr. sacrificed his life for a stranger. It's clear he's a hero. It's also clear that his death was avoidable. It was the result of a system that failed Jeffrey Williams and that fails a growing number of homeless Philadelphians everyday. Williams, a disabled and mentally ill man, was seeking shelter as he crossed the Vine Street Expressway a week ago on Monday morning.

I'VE ALWAYS been a fan of Allen Iverson, unlike the media. We the public seem to hear only the negative stories, but never the small acts of kindness he performs. These stories are just as important to give people more complete pictures of athletes like Mr. Iverson who are continually portrayed as immature hooligans. A few weeks ago in Virginia, a friend of my cousin's was in a horrible car accident. Trying to find her cell phone, she lost control of her car going off an exit ramp and it flipped.

British tourist Lavern Paul Ritch spent the day Saturday in Margate the way many visitors do: lounging on the beach, dining in a restaurant, and then hitting a few nightclubs to round out the evening. By the next morning, the 37-year-old fitness trainer from Wales was dead, and authorities in this Jersey Shore town yesterday continued to search for the man who stabbed him in the heart. Police said Ritch, who was on vacation in the United States for two weeks and had been staying with friends from Cherry Hill, was killed early Sunday trying to intervene in a fight near the intersection of North Washington and Monmouth Avenues.

AFTER SEEING the video footage of the girl who was attacked while walking from the train to Temple in broad daylight, I not only wanted to see the close up of the attacker's face, but how about showing the faces of the two cowards you see approaching and who do nothing to help? Let's print their wussy names and faces. Sean Patrowich, Jenkintown

A western Chester County couple known for being good Samaritans died in a raging trailer fire on Tuesday the way they lived: caring for children and animals. "Any time a family lost their home or someone needed a place to stay, they came through," said Kay Myers, describing her sister, Charlotte K. Fletcher, 69, and her brother-in-law, Frederick G. Fletcher, 55. On the morning the Fletchers died, they were taking care of two young children of a single mother who worked the overnight shift at a nearby Wal-Mart store.

The war in Iraq. Violence at home. Government scandals. Sometimes it seems as though there is no good news to be found. But good deeds are being done all the time, and you don't have to look too hard to discover them. The Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Project is made up of residents from Bucks and Montgomery Counties. For 19 months, they have been sending money, supplies and expertise to Hancock County in Mississippi. A contingent of 60 folks from the Philadelphia area went there last week to savor what they accomplished: the dedication of a new Hancock County Child Development Center.

ON SUNDAY morning, I boarded the bus for the rally in Washington against the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. I did so with mixed feelings. On the one hand I wanted to do something. On the other, I felt that I was participating in an empty gesture. Once there, my inner conflict grew even stronger. It was like a high school pep rally before the big game - lots of energy and enthusiasm that has little impact on the final outcome of the game. Only the players on the field, and what they do or don't do, really counts.

After confronting the enraged, knife-wielding man attacking his 19-year-old neighbor - and getting stabbed in the neck for his trouble - James Davies managed to call 911. "I'm bleeding too much," he told the dispatcher. Later in the call, after Davies explained how he had intervened and gave a description of the assailant, the dispatcher asked, "Why did this happen?" "I don't know," Davies said. "I just tried to stop it. I heard the screaming. " Davies' actions in August 2004 allowed Shannon Williams to escape her attacker, Oshain Lambert, at least temporarily.