Member Spotlight: gateway2adventure

Hello again, and welcome to our latest installment of the New Member Spotlight.  This time I'm very pleased to be able to share with you a member's personal story of how using eBay helped her family through some very difficult challenges.

Don't forget...we want to hear your stories too. Remember, it can be anything from a uniquely interesting item you sold, to how eBay has led to a dramatic change in your life. You can submit your stories directly to chatterblog@ebay.com (team), ryank@ebay.com (me), or on our dedicated discussion board thread. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our RSS Feed, so you can get updates each time a new post goes up.

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eBay Helps Provide a "Gateway to Adventure"
by gateway2adventure

What does a parent do when faced with overwhelming therapy expenses and unable to pay for need therapy for a child.  That was the situation my family faced about 1 1/2 years ago when our child was diagnosed with a developmental disorder known as Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID).  One of the worst situations any parent can face is know that your child desperately needs something, and be unable to financially provide for that need. We are dedicated to educating people about this Developmental disorder our child has been diagnosed with, and have dedicated our About Me page to educating others about SID.

Faced with what was overwhelming situation we decided to start selling items from our home on eBay.  We were already members of the eBay community who had items, so we thought we would give eBay a try. We prayed that we would make a little extra money to help pay for some therapy sessions.

We started off selling a few items, and quickly learned the ins and outs of selling on eBay.  After some trial, and of course a few errors, over the first few months we soon had extra money coming in and were able to pay for therapy and some much need developmental appropriate toys to work with our child. What started out as a desperate need by parents slowly grew into a small business.  We truly entered the business world through the back door.

Learn more about Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID) at: Sensory Naton Sensory Processing Disorder Center Incredible Horizons

We currently are proud Power Sellers, and operate an eBay Store where we specialize in selling quality outdoor clothing items. To continue to grow our eBay business we attended eBay Live! last year in Las Vegas. I had chance to meet Bill Cobb personally and share our families story with him (and that's me with Griff in the picture above).

Thanks to the eBay Community we have been able to pay for ongoing therapy for our child for over a year.  Last year our child was completely non-verbal and at least one year behind developmentally.  He is now talking, and quickly making huge developing strides.  We are grateful from the bottom of our hearts to the eBay Community for helping our family!

Please know one thing…we LOVE our child with our whole heart and souls.  We would do anything under the sun, moon and stars to help him!  Thank you eBay for allowing us that opportunity! Sharing this information with the eBay Community is one way to increase awareness of this developmental disorder.

Thank you for talking the time to hear our story!