In North Bend, the three Treglown boys, Zachary, Gavin and Scott, quickly agreed to auction off their K'Nex building set and a Scooby-Doo puzzle on eBay to benefit tsunami survivors.

Their parents wanted to turn something inconceivable for the boys — a tsunami killing more than 150,000 people — into an action they could grasp: helping just one child who'd been left orphaned and homeless.

Over in Ballard, Matt and Laurra McGregor wanted to do more than write a $500 check to a charity. When they heard about the brothers, inspiration struck: If three boys could help, surely they could do more. After a night of brainstorming, they decided to donate one Sunday's earnings from their small pizzeria on Crown Hill.

So began a chain of giving like many unfolding across the country, with small gestures inspiring other, sometimes larger acts of goodwill.

Faced with the greatest disaster in a generation, people across the state are finding creative ways to give: siblings in Sammamish who sold hot chocolate in the rain; eighth-graders in Wenatchee who canceled a class trip to Canada; employees of King County who have asked to cash in their vacation time for donations.

Three in 10 Americans say they've contributed to the victims of the South Asia tsunami, and others say they plan to, according to an Associated Press poll. Experts say such personal efforts illustrate a thirst for community at a time when many Americans are feeling increasingly isolated.

"We are in the United States experiencing a high level of alienation, a lack of connectedness, a lack of a sense of community and larger purpose," said Joel Westheimer, co-director of the international research group Democratic Dialogue, which examines questions of democracy, education and civic engagement.

An event like the tsunami, that's "not about ideology, but just about someone in need, allows people to let their defenses down and jump to quench this incredible thirst for connection and meaning."

Nine-year-old Gavin Treglown doesn't know or care about the social forces driving efforts like his. He just knows that he expected his building set, a cross between Legos and Tinkertoys, to fetch maybe $15 on eBay. If nobody bid on the toys, his father, Ken Treglown, had secretly planned to call the boys' grandmother and ask her to bid $20.

Both were surprised when more than 4,000 hits on the Web site drove up the price to $1,000 — that is, before eBay pulled the item from the site because of rules aimed at ensuring charity auctions are legitimate. Nonetheless, a Mercer Island mom, one of the high bidders, still gave the Treglowns a check for $1,050, which the three brothers presented to World Vision in Federal Way last week.

"I feel happy that other people are doing things too, and it's like a big copycatting thing," Gavin said. He and his brothers are now going through their cards for Yu-Gi-Oh!, a popular trading-card game, and plan to post those alongside a pinball machine and the Scooby-Doo puzzle.

It's easy for people, especially kids, to feel overwhelmed and helpless in the face of a disaster of this magnitude, said Rhonda Treglown, the boys' mother. "I'm glad they realized that no matter how small something starts out, it can grow and grow."

And so it did, thanks in part to the McGregors and their customers at Soprano's Pizza & Pasta in Crown Hill, where fund-raising efforts netted nearly $10,000 for World Vision. The place has only 13 tables and capacity for about 60 people, and the most it has ever taken in during a single night was $3,800.

Still, Laurra McGregor hoped that if people heard about the fund-raiser, she and her husband might be able to raise $5,000. "I've worked the kitchen, and I just didn't think that was possible," her husband said.

But at 9:30 a.m. on the Sunday of the benefit, an employee called him to tell him people were already calling for pickup orders. The restaurant doesn't open until 11 a.m.

By 11:30, patrons were lined up out the door, and customers inside were busing their own tables. The head of the commercial real-estate firm where Matt McGregor works showed up to wash dishes; McGregor's supervisor gave him a check for $500; and a waitress donated her entire night's tips — $250, five times her normal take.

One diner handed McGregor a $300 check for a $45 meal tab. When customers heard they'd have to wait two hours or longer for a pizza that normally takes 20 minutes, they smiled and said, "No problem."

"Normally people would kill you for that," he said.

The scene also inspired his friend Stan Dimitrov, whom he called several times throughout the night when he ran low on cheese, dough and mushrooms.

A native of Bulgaria, Dimitrov saved his money from working at a pizza parlor and put a down payment on his own restaurant six years ago. He now owns Amante Pizza and Pasta, a chain with eateries in Lynnwood, Renton, West Seattle, Shoreline and Magnolia.

The five restaurants, open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., will donate today's entire till to World Vision. Customers may call the chain's Lynnwood flagship at 4730 196th St. S.W., at 425-640-6600 for directions to their closest Amante, Dimitrov said.

"What I saw on Sunday night, people joining together and trying to do one thing, everybody would be inspired by a moment like this," Dimitrov said. "It's a grateful moment. I want to be part of that."

In Wenatchee, teacher Anni Hisey and her eighth-graders at Cascade Christian Academy started their own chain of giving. Last week the 18 students voted to cancel their trip to Victoria and donate the $1,860 they'd raised to Red Cross International.

"We all — young people too — have a need to be part of something bigger than ourselves," Hisey said. "When we live selfishly and in a small way, we end up depressed, cold and bitter."