Nowhere is the eBay spirit more evident than in the online Community forums. On the discussion boards, chat rooms and in eBay Groups, members talk, joke, and debate with each other all day. Some come looking for information, some are there to provide it, and others come just to relax and hang out with friends.

There are some members who consistently go out of their way to help other members, whether it's giving new buyers tips about payment methods or sharing their best selling practices with sellers who want to grow their eBay businesses. These members quickly begin to develop a reputation as people to go to for advice and helpful suggestions. They are among the best examples of people who ?live the eBay values.?

Every year at eBay Live!, eBay publicly honors five people for their contributions to making the eBay Community special. These outstanding role models of our Community are inducted into the Community Hall of Fame. This year's winners received their awards personally from Bill Cobb, eBay's President of North America. A copy of this beautiful crystal award is also displayed in the main lobby of eBay's corporate offices in San Jose, California.

We also ask each winner to let us know their charitable organization of choice, and the eBay Foundation then donates $2,500 to each charity.

Without further ado, let's meet this year's Community Hall of Fame award winners.

Our first winner, rockboss2000, is from Washington State. She has been an eBay member since January 2001, and she can be found on the boards frequently assisting members who experience technical issues with their computers while using the eBay site. She also has an extremely helpful About Me page with tips on how to trouble-shoot technical issues.

rockboss2000's charity of choice is Dallas-based Heart House, a free after-school program dedicated to raising academic achievement levels for low-income and at-risk children in inner city areas and encouraging them to become active, involved members of society.

As a keen equestrienne, afternoon-daydreams chose a charity dedicated to the welfare and care of horses. South Carolina Awareness and Rescue for Equines (SCARE) provides public awareness and education concerning the welfare of horses. They also provide responsible foster homes and rehabilitative care for horses in need. Says afternoon-daydreams, ?The choice was an easy one to make. I am an active volunteer and county representative for SCARE. This organization does not receive any State or Federal Funds, and is run entirely by volunteers. We normally have to rely on our own fundraising efforts in order to continue our mission. The generous grant from the eBay Foundation will lessen SCARE's financial burden. Thank you, eBay!?

*zip, our third winner, has been an eBay member since October 2003. She is a dedicated helper on the About Me board, and is also happy to help people on the New To eBay, Photos/HTML, and the Packaging and Shipping boards. *zip 's About Me page offers many useful tips on packaging and shipping.

Music has always been a part of *zip 's life, and so at her request, the eBay Foundation is giving $2,500 towards a music scholarship at Washington State University. The Washington State University Foundation advances the teaching, research, and public service endeavors of WSU. The grant will support the Mu Phi Epsilon Scholarship at WSU, a scholarship that supports excellence in music and academics.

bobmill's charity of choice is the Best Friends Animal Society, which operates the nation's largest sanctuary for abused and abandoned animals and manages Utah 's No More Homeless Pets campaign with shelters and humane groups statewide.

pi_r_square, with Bill Cobb

Last but not the least, we have pi_r_square, who has been an eBay member since late 1997. He frequently assists other members on the Trust & Safety, Policies and User Agreement, and PayPal boards. pi_r_square 's About Me page contains useful information on these aspects of eBay, as well as help with buying and selling questions.

pi_r_square's charity of choice is the Bexar-Bulverde Volunteer Fire Department, a non-profit volunteer organization that proudly provides fire prevention, fire suppression, rescue, and emergency medical first-responder services to a 40-square-mile area of unincorporated Northern Bexar County, Texas.

We want to congratulate all five of our winners for their splendid contributions to the eBay Community, and for living the eBay Community Values every day.