"Cookie Cuties" Find Americans Are Generous

I briefly noted this story about two girls from Colorado who were sued over their anonymous delivery of cookies to a neighbor in my abbreviated post for Friday. Their plight after performing a "random act of kindness" has prompted an outpouring of generosity from people around the country.

The Cookie Defense Fund has swelled to thousands of dollars.

Hundreds of Denver Post readers e-mailed and called to express "shock" and "outrage" that two 18-year-old Durango girls were sued for something they did last summer: drop off a plate of cookies and a paper heart on a neighbor's porch.

Taylor Ostergaard and Lindsey Zellitti lost in Small Claims Court in La Plata County on Thursday. Their impulse to bake cookies and treat neighbors by knocking, dropping off and running away went awry. One of nine neighbors who received a plate of cookies said the pounding on her door about 10:30 p.m. July 31 frightened her into an anxiety attack. A Durango judge awarded about $900 to the 49-year-old woman to cover some medical bills incurred when she ended up at the emergency room the next day.

If the people who called and wrote make good on their pledges, that $900 will be recovered many times over. Several people offered to personally cover the whole amount themselves.

The attention has been overwhelming.

The girls will be appearing on "Good Morning, America", and have an invitation (probably to be rejected) to appear on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.