For cancer research, charity begins on Ebay

Prostate Cancer Foundation chief executive Leslie Michelson is turning to eBay to raise research dollars as baby boomers approach the danger age when the disease -- the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in US males -- is most likely to strike.

As millions of men enter their 50s, the number of new cases of prostate cancer, which strikes one in six US men, is expected to jump 50 per cent over the next decade, Michelson noted. Borrowing a page from the legions of individuals who now make their living on eBay, non-profit organisations from the Red Cross to groups of parents eager to find an alternative to school bake sales, are turning to eBay as a fund-raising venue.

As a result, eBay is emerging as the internet hub of choice for both commerce and charity.

The company recently added a layer of trust to the charitable transactions it brokers by assuring buyers that their donations will reach intended recipients.

MissionFish, a Points of Light Foundation service that has partnered with eBay's Giving Works charity listings program, verifies and vouches for non-profits' tax-exempt status.

To date, non-profit organisations have raised US$35 million via eBay, said company spokesman Hani Durzy.

Michelson -- who helped found several health-related companies including Acurian, which uses the internet to match much-needed patients to clinical trials -- said he partnered with eBay's Giving Works charity listings program in an effort to significantly expand PCF's base of individual and corporate donors.

At the June 6 close of the first wave of its auction, PCF had raised US$17,000. On June 13, Pennsylvania-based electrical repair company owner Martin Morley paid almost $16,100 for a private lunch with teen punk-pop music star Avril Lavigne, whose hits have soared on the charts.

Morley, who said he donates between $30,000 and $40,000 a year to charities, bought the lot for his 6- and 9-year-old daughters, who already have met pop princesses Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Mandy Moore. "This was something that was just so cool. It was kind of a heart-stopper," Morley said of the last-minute bidding.

The PCF auction wraps up on June 21, when bidding ends on numerous high-profile lots, including lunch with Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend Magic Johnson, dinner with Miss USA Shandi Finnessey and the chance to meet property mogul and 'The Apprentice' reality television show star Donald Trump, and spend a weekend at his luxurious private club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Members of eBay's selling community also have pitched in to the PCF effort, listing hundred of items and donating all or part of the proceeds to PCF, said Michelson, who hopes the PCF auction will be the biggest in eBay history in terms of dollars raised. "What we didn't know to expect was the strength of the support from the eBay seller community," he said.

The California-based Prostate Cancer Foundation was launched in 1993 by philanthropist and former junk bond king Michael Milken.