NEW YORK, December 5, 2006 -- He was wearing a Channing Frye jersey -- over a Stephon Marbury shirt. Still, eight-year old Kobe Pather was right in the middle of explaining how his Number One, most beloved, very favorite New York Knick just had to be Renaldo Balkman -- “He’s a great hustling rookie”, explained young Kobe -- when a very tall, very wiry, very dread-locked gentleman walked by about two feet behind him at the Whole Foods Market on Union Square. “Quick, turn around!” mom Ornella prompted. “Oh, my God, that’s him! That’s awesome! I saw him in the game last night! Mom, that’s Renaldo!”

Kobe was having a good day.

But he was far from the only one: the Knicks, in partnership with the Garden of Dreams Foundation and City Harvest, teamed up to collect food for needy children all over the City as part of a month-long initiative. Fans could bring any canned or other non-perishable food items to donate and receive autographs in exchange -- maybe even hang out a little -- with Balkman, Nate Robinson, and New York Liberty point guard Loree Moore.

Some of the hundreds on line were enormous Knicks fans (see Kobe). Some professed to be “medium Knicks fans” who happened to particularly love Renaldo and/or Nate -- and others admitted that they didn’t know all that much about basketball but “just wanted to help children in need during the holidays.” “Dude, this is all about showing LOVE,” Balkman boomed in his familiar basso profundo.

“It’s the Garden of Dreams, right? Well, what better time to make dreams come true?” the rookie forward added.

“Now is the time to go out into the community and give the shirts off of our backs,” said Robinson. “Touching people in person, that’s very important. We in the NBA are very blessed to be able to do what we do. So now we give some of those blessings back.”

Knicks players will personally deliver all collected items to some of the 500 community food programs served by Garden of Dreams and City Harvest.

The very first person on line was Gina Ng, “a major basketball fan and a growing Knick fan”, who played some heavy hoops herself for Brooklyn Tech until she tore her ACL. “I was the Asian representation on the team, too!” she glowed. ”I love watching Nate because he’s so undersized but so good. The stuff he does, it’s unbelievable. And David Lee, he’s the new Charles Oakley!”

Several fans made sure to shake the players’ hands and express support. “We are with you!” one gentleman stressed. “Don’t forget! I know you won’t let us down. You guys are getting better, it’s quite obvious. You’re playing hard.” “We’re not going to go away, I can tell you that much,” replied an appreciative Robinson. “We’re going to keep on coming at them! We’re going to leave our hearts out there on the floor if it’s the last thing we do.”

Seven-year old Daniel Sherzer showed up with “A bunch of tuna fish, my favorite!” he said. “Poor kids need food, especially at Christmas, and I want to share mine with them.” Daniel’s favorite player is Jamal Crawford and, once he heard that the Knicks guard was at another Whole Food Market on 27th Street, he convinced Mom Judy to visit there, too. “And bring more food!” glowed Daniel.

Meanwhile Kobe buddied up big-time with Renaldo and Nate, took several pictures with his arms around both of them, had his Knicks “Dr. Zeuss” hat signed, and was interviewed by WNBC, Channel Four. “I’m grounded right now,” he assured everyone within earshot with a huge smile on his face. “Actually, he is, kind of,” Mom admitted shyly.

Ten minutes later, Mom showed up with eight MORE bags of food. “Kobe insisted,” she smiled. “And it is our responsibility. It’s a great lesson for him -- and for all of us.”