"I’ve been on the receiving end of many acts of kindness but I’ve mostly used Twitter, forums, or a blog post to thank them. I appreciate Ryan’s goal for the site."

I'm with you on that one Jeff.
I've had lot's of help and free code from people who are the good guys out there.
My way of saying thanks is a thank you on twitter, a call out on facebook or a post with links to their site to thank them.

I've always found that some of the web superstars are also the ones who will give you the most help.