Sitting in front of Fan Loco, his dad's Tex-Mex restaurant on Stanton St., Dietrich offered up a tempting array of Rice Krispies Treats, his own "Monster" cookies, double-chocolate brownies and Mom's limeade and iced coffee to wash it all down.

Like a lot of Americans, Die-trich and his family stayed glued to the TV for the first few days as the reality of Katrina's tragedy unfolded. "It was really sad for our family," Dietrich recalled. "It's sad that people are dying and some are still in their homes." The young boy, thinking beyond his years, pointed out that "people have been forgotten and records have been destroyed."

It was during Oprah's Winfrey's special, when she brought her Angel Network to New Orleans to reveal some very poignant stories, that Dietrich felt the inspiration to pitch in. The sixth-grader empathized with the younger victims of Katrina. "I want to help the kids. The TV didn't show what happened to the kids," Dietrich said. "I wanted to know what happened to them, and reunite the families."

Together with his mom, Jill, and 5-year-old brother, Calvin (the "taste tester"), Dietrich went out into his nabe Saturday afternoon. Passersby were touched by the image of a young boy manning his bake sale table, and gave generously, offering words of encouragement.

It turned into a Hing family event as Dad, Mom, Grandma and two brothers spent the day selling sweets for the Katrina victims. "It's nice to me that he desires to do ­anything to help other people," said Jill Hing. "He's very compassionate."

The earnings of the day — $226 — will be donated to AmeriCares, a nonprofit disaster relief and ­humanitarian aid organization. Dietrich, confident that his efforts would help, said, "It doesn't matter how little [money] ... the more people the better. It'll add up to one humongous thing. I want people to help."

Spoken like a true hero.

(Donations to AmeriCares can be made at www.Americares.org or by calling 1-800-486-HELP.)

MONSTER COOKIES
This is a big recipe; Dietrich makes them so that they're are actually ultra-mega-monster-cookies.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cups granulated sugar
3 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs (room temperature)
4 cups (2 packages) semi- sweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons milk
2 cup oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned)
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecan pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl. In a large mixing bowl beat butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture and milk, scraping bowl often. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, raisins and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are just starting to get crispy and centers are still soft. Remove from oven and bang the cookie sheet on the counter to make the cookies flatter. Cool for 2 or 3 minutes and remove to a rack to cool.

Originally published on September 13, 2005