Kudos to a trio of Fox Valley heroes

In a time of hopelessness and anger over the economy and the price of gas, these stories elevate the spirit.

Sometimes we set out to do wonderful things to help our fellow man.

Sometimes it just sort of happens.

Daily Herald readers in recent days were treated to both types of heroes. In a time of hopelessness and anger over the economy and the price of gas, when people are bolstering for another soaking from floodwaters and are denied the simple pleasure of a slice of tomato on their burger, stories like these elevate the spirit.

We congratulate Peter Hamm and David and Kim Olson, heroes all.

Peter, a precocious Elgin 10-year-old, last weekend was participating in a fishing derby on Elgin's Walton Island in the middle of the Fox River.

He noticed the fidgety 3-year-old near him throwing things into the river and the child's dad fumbling with his tangled fishing line. And saw the youngster slip into the drink.

"My first thoughts were, 'Go get that kid, or he's gonna die,' " Peter told reporter Harry Hitzeman. "I didn't want that to happen."

So he grabbed the boy's leg and he and the dad hauled him ashore.

Peter is rightfully self-satisfied, but he also was rewarded by organizers and a participant in the fishing derby with a canteen, a cooler and a fishing pole -- things every 10-year-old boy needs at the start of summer vacation.

David and Kim Olson, who, until recently, owned a home in Elgin, also deserve praise.

The Olsons have chucked most of their worldly possessions -- including their home -- and moved into a daughter's basement in Lake County.

They live there now when they're not in Tanzania, helping to improve the lives of children in that impoverished African nation.

Five years ago, the couple decided to turn their vacations into missions to help. Two years later, they delivered their first 100 pounds of supplies to a school in Kenya. Just last month, they sent 27,000 pounds of books and school supplies to a school in East Africa.

"In the United States, everyone has the opportunity to get ahead. It may not be easy, but you still have the opportunity," David Olson told Hitzeman. "There (in Tanzania) they don't have the opportunity of education, to get ahead or move beyond basic subsistence living."

The couple accepts donations in many forms -- warehouse space, donations of books, money -- and funnels them to those who need it most. They founded the not-for-profit organization Zawadi ni Zawadi, which translates to "A gift is a gift."

"We're richer -- not wealthier -- but richer than we've ever been," David Olson said.

Just look at the smiles on Peter and David and Kim in our stories last week. Their ample rewards are in knowing they've helped out.

If you, too, want to be a hero, lend the Olsons a hand. Click on zawadinizawadi.com.