The Ultimate Gift - the Gift of Life

I was lucky enough to meet Mark and Terry Meade at eBay Live! in Orlando 2003, and a fast friendship developed. Two years later, we hosted eBay Live! in eBay's hometown of San Jose, California, and we were thrilled when Mark and Terry made their annual appearance at the show. In an unfortunate turn of events, Mark suffered a heart attack, was hospitalized, and underwent surgery. Mark and Terry were in California from New Jersey for many weeks longer than they had originally planned while Mark recuperated.

While Mark was hospitalized in California, Terry was fortunate enough to stay in a "family house" on the grounds of the hospital free of charge. The family house allowed family members to be near their loved ones without having to bear the cost of a hotel room. As you can imagine this was a great relief to a family going through this ordeal 3,000 miles from home!

The last three years have had their ups and downs, but just a couple of weeks ago, Mark became the recipient of a donor heart from an anonymous but generous family. He is now recupertating from heart transplant surgery with the goal of being home soon.  This wonderful news allowed Terry to travel to Chicago to attend eBay Live! 2008, and this year her mission is an important one.

Terry met with the eBay Giving Works team at eBay Live!, and has decided to utilize eBay Giving Works when selling on eBay in order to raise funds for the Philadelphia Gift of LIfe Family House. She was so touched by the family house she stayed in while in California, that she is helping the efforts to have one built in Philadelphia.  The Family House will have 30 private rooms and construction began in Spring 2008.

Terry can be seen throughout the Solutions Center floor, giving away "Donate @ Life" pins which we are all wearing on our lanyards. Terry herself is also wearing a green ribbon pin, which signifies her family is the recipient of an organ donation. If you would like to become an organ donor, you may visit the Gift of Life Foundation to learn more.  Below you can see Terry telling part of the amazing story of how they received the ultimate gift from another family: