The Intrepid Adventures of The Traveling Lab Coat from eBay Live!

Hey everyone,

I'm here to warn you to be on the lookout for a traveling lab coat. You know, those sterile, white jackets doctors or scientists wear in their laboratory.  But this ain't your ordinary lab coat.  It's a very special lab coat because it's "Traveling on for Charity" and listed through eBay's Giving Works tool.

Since I'm a native of Salt Lake City, I wanted to blog about this fantastic, grass roots, idea to raise money for the Primary Children's Medical Center, located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A big pat on the back should be given to eBay Community member danna who started the lab coat on its adventures. She's even written about the lab coat on her own blog. Please be sure to read her story, The Traveling eBay Lab Coat to learn how her idea came to fruition. In a nutshell: Lab coats like this one were worn only  by a few eBay employees during eBay Live! earlier this year. When the event ended, the employee who had worn this lab coat listed it, donating the proceeds to charity. danna won that auction, and then had a brilliant idea -- why not "pay it forward" by listing the lab coat again, and donating the proceeds from the second auction to her own favorite charity? Whoever won the second auction could re-list it yet again for their own favorite charity, and keep "paying it forward."

And so the lab coat's travels began...

danna says, "the goal is to keep the Lab Coat Traveling around eBay and for each owner to sign it and re-list it back on eBay as a 100% Charity auction! A company logo can be added, an autograph, a patch, pin... the ideas are endless!"

We couldn't agree more, so we're going to try to keep track of the traveling lab coat here on the Chatter Blog, and give you updates about its progress and the money that it is raising for various charities.

Fast forwarding a few weeks after danna listed the lab coat, here we are again to discuss the latest version of the eBay Live! Traveling Lab Coat.  The “pay it forward” torch has passed on to the winner of danna's auction, kompolt.

The Kompolt team created a clever About Me page for the coat as it narrates its short life span within the eBay Community.  You can read more about it here traveling_lab_coat.

For the non-profit organization that will benefit from this auction, kompolt has chosen the Challenged Athletes Foundation, in memory of the late Bob Hebeler, an eBay employee. Bob passed away suddenly last year and the Challenged Athletes Foundation was set up as a way for those of us who knew him or others that want to support this cause as a way to honor Bob and his love of outdoor sports and athletics. 100% of the proceeds from the eBay Live! Traveling Lab Coat auction will go to supporting and encouraging challenged athletes to achieve their goals.

There are still 7 days remaining so bid now, or maybe wait until the auction is drawing to a close and try to win with your best sniping finger. Who knows, maybe I'll be blogging about you and your favorite non-profit as you join in on the fun of "paying it forward" with the eBay Live Traveling Lab Coat!