EDITORIAL:

Human nature at its worst often brings out human nature at its best. Witness the recent development in the saga of the Taste of Huntington Beach, which was sabotaged in April by counterfeiters who printed out fake tickets and leached more than $11,000 from the organizers — and from the city’s children’s libraries, which stood to benefit from the proceeds.

So it was a relief at Monday’s City Council meeting when Elaine Parker, president of Friends of the Children’s Library, announced that half of that loss had been covered by an anonymous donor in the community. Early in the morning of May 11, a local man who chose to remain nameless walked into the Huntington Beach Central Library and dropped off a check for $5,000 on behalf of his family.

Much as we’d love a good investigative romp, we’re going to let the donor keep his secret. But whoever he is, we thank him for his extreme generosity in the face of one of the cheapest acts in Huntington Beach’s recent memory.

Police are still investigating the counterfeit case, and we hope the perpetrators are brought to justice soon. In the meantime, we hope the donor who stopped by the library last month won’t be the last. We hardly expect everyone to shell out thousands of dollars in a recession economy, but even a small allotment would go to cover something.

And if there’s ever been a time for the community to show its support for Parker and her comrades, it’s now.