An important goal of the Cranberry Township Community Chest is to make sure that what's raised in Cranberry stays in Cranberry, but that doesn't mean that the rest of us can't steal some.

I guess "steal" isn't the word I want so much as "imitate" or "borrow," but I didn't want to sound too sycophantic in my praise.

As your friendly all-zones suburban columnist, I don't want to be seen playing favorites, and since Cranberry's government is ridiculously competent and its citizens tiresomely community-minded, I was trying to avoid tooting their horn. The rest of us schlubs get a little weary of their relentless excellence, you know?

But really, their latest idea is so brilliant it should be copied -- or creatively adapted-- wherever possible.

Here's the deal: The company behind Cranberry's new $250 million Park Place housing development has donated the naming rights for three of its streets to a local charity, and those rights are for sale this week on eBay.

So you can buy a unique gift for the one you love -- yourself or someone else -- and see that person's name forever enshrined on street signs in a lovely "back to the future" neighborhood, while the purchase price flows into the Cranberry Township Community Chest to fund good works. Win-win, and -- since you don't have to leave your computer to shop -- win some more.

Imagine the feeling you'd get driving past that street sign in the years ahead. It would be like the silent thrill a kidney donor gets every time he glimpses the evidence of his generosity but without the anesthesia, the pain or the scar. What's not to love?

The idea sprang from the mind of Bruce Mazzoni, who is both a Cranberry township supervisor and president of the Community Chest, a non-profit founded 33 years ago by a Rotary Club president to help other community non-profits raise money and find volunteers. In the last grant cycle, the Community Chest supported the food bank, volunteer fire company, public library, Boy Scout troops and Chamber of Commerce, among others. Money raised in Cranberry stays in Cranberry.

Both ideas are prime for pillaging -- the [Your Township or Borough] Community Chest and [Your Name Here] Street.

Auctioning naming rights to a new street will be easier in newer municipalities, of course, where new developments are still possible. Even then, it will require an unselfish developer with concern for the welfare of others. Good luck with that!

Seriously, I'm a big believer in free enterprise and the civic good that flows from enlightened capitalism, but there's a particular kind of drive I've noticed in lots of developers that reminds me of, oh, a bulldozer. That's why Don Rodgers and his Creative Real Estate Development Co. deserve tremendous praise for agreeing to Mr. Mazzoni's creative idea.

Wherever generous developers are scarce or big posh neighborhoods like Park Place are no longer feasible, communities should look high and low for other auction possibilities.

For instance, the main road through Cranberry's Park Place, soon to be changed from "Street A" to the highest bidder's desired name, leads to a new, 170-acre municipal park (55 acres of which, by the way, were donated by the same developer). And in the new Graham Park will sit the Dick's Sporting Goods Sportsplex, its name secured for the next 10 years for just $2.2 million.

While swanky new ball fields aren't always possible, many municipalities have buildings and parks with ho-hum names just begging to be updated for cash. Some of these public assets are named for politicians who rarely, if ever, pay for this honor.

In fact many of these politicians are often for sale themselves! (Though not on eBay. Or, not yet.)

If the public asset in question is looking a little dilapidated, why not throw in some minor improvements -- a new coat of paint, new lighting, a few trees -- with those naming rights? Spend $3,000 to make $10,000, say, and Mr. So-and-So gets to be seen as someone who improves the community, not just someone who likes to slap his name on a building.

I myself think that "Dailey Drive" has a nice ring to it or, to stroke my crossword alter ego, "Puzzling Place." But, sadly, I don't live in Cranberry. Hopefully more of that town's bevy of boosters will jump in before the bidding ends Sunday afternoon and propel the giving to the level that the auction's creators hoped for and the community's charities deserve.

And here's another tip to take from Cranberry: Whenever you sell something on eBay that's really huge, like a road or a park or a concession stand, make sure the shipping is free.