Here is the sad and lovely story of Maria Hartmark, the dining room manager of the Dodgers press box. She gave of herself to make people happy, and those people are now giving back in her time of need:

For the many writers, broadcasters and engineers who cover the Dodgers on nights that wildly swing from boredom to hysteria, Maria is the rock, our rock, a woman who keeps the soda machine running, the coffee pot full and our heads from exploding.

All of which made it so chilling when, on the first Thursday in October, before the Dodgers’ first postseason game against the Atlanta Braves, this most valuable of players was not in the lineup.

Maria wasn’t there. A day earlier, she had been plowed over by an SUV while crossing a street near her home. She had a fractured skull, fractured ribs, ruptured spleen, broken arm and fractured leg.

So people are stepping up. Her children started a GoFundMe page:

The family, still unsure of what to expect, randomly asked for $20,000. And suddenly the woman who would help anyone was being helped by everyone, 211 donations and counting, $24,705 and counting — in a month. Along with phone calls of support, the money poured in, from top Dodgers officials to Dodgers organists, from Dodgers broadcasters to visiting announcers, from local writers to visiting scribes.

When Rosales read her the list of names, Maria cried out in appreciation and shock.

“Why? Why? Why?’’ she wondered.

“You have to ask?’’ Rosales asked her.

By the time the money slowed and a count was made, a surprising milestone was reached.

After all these years of creating a home for the Dodgers media, Maria was given a most appropriate gift in return.

The donations allowed her to pay off her house.

With no mortgage, she can now better handle the costs of her recovery.

It’s a wonderful life.