This year, we’ve asked our community to share what Desert Bus for Hope and Child’s Play means to them, and what impact they’ve had on their lives. Here is a selection of these community submissions…

#DBToMe is a week where there's always somebody awake. It's the streaming equivalent of being a little kid and knowing that mom and dad are just down the hall if you need them. Thanks @DesertBus and crew. You're my light in the hallway. 💙🌵

— Jules Elizabeth says Black Lives Matter 🏳️‍🌈 (@InsidiousPie) November 19, 2020

And last but CERTAINLY not least: Desert Bus brought @Alatriyana and I together. I wouldn't have my incredible wife in my life without Desert Bus 8 introducing us from across the ends of the internet. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. #DBtoMe 5/5
📸- @SpecialKolin pic.twitter.com/zaZLKy8MJm

— Ian D (@dixonij) November 19, 2020

To my mind, @DesertBus is one of the few unequivocal forces of good in the world. I've been watching for 10 years now; and I've seen such incredible kindness as people come together to support an amazing cause. No matter how hard life is, the bus is safe and happy. ❤️ #DBToMe

— B C, combination best of times and worst of times (@SigmaMorrigan) November 19, 2020

#DBTOME I got into @DesertBus in ‘17, I was in a bad place & having quite a bad time mentally. DB’s wackiness, positivity & kindness helped me see light to improve my life personally & professionally. Now is one of my favourite events of the year & have contributed to ever since.

— Jon Dale (@JonDale1) November 19, 2020

This year is my tenth year of watching @DesertBus, half of which have run during my birthday.

I’m glad that, during this year of uncertainty, I can once again see my birthday in with Desert Bus.

As is tradition. #DBToMe

— Julisa 🐝 (@julisamay) November 17, 2020

We want to hear your story! You can tweet using the #DBToMe hashtag throughout the rest of this year’s run. We’ll be retweeting submissions throughout the run on the @desertbus Twitter feed and highlighting a selection of tweets from the community here on the desertbus.org blog.

As always, thanks for being a part of our community and your support of Child’s Play!

We appear to be coming up on the last evening of Desert Bus for Hope 2020! We want to take a moment to preview all the amazing things that are coming up this evening… on OMEGA SHIFT.

Omega Shift, for those that are new to the bus, is a bonus shift that occurs towards the end of the event, where the entertainers and staff from each shift come together for the final few hours of the run. With so many people and so much going on, it’s hard to tell exactly what shift is happening, so we call it Omega Shift!

As discussed on stream, because things are a little different this year, we’re changing things up. Here’s a rough outline of what you can expect this evening (though this is subject to change, so watch the stream and our Twitter for the latest updates)…

We’ll start off the night with our friends on Night Watch. Stay tuned for the Night Watch News and other fun happenings. And tonight at 7:00pm PST, we’ll be auctioning the one and only large-print Desert Bus for Hope 2020 poster!

At 10:00pm PST tonight, we’ll be kicking off Omega Shift and our final Donation Drive… the replica Master Sword and Hylian Shield! Also, be sure to tune in for Erika’s Ultimate Trivia Challenge!

Around 11:00pm PST tonight, we’ll be doing our Thank You’s. Normally, we do this at the very end of the run, but this year we’ve bumped this up earlier for logistical reasons.

After that… who knows how long we’ll be bussing? We’ll spend the rest of the time hanging out, taking challenges, and just having a good time. When it’s time… we’ll draw the Mystery Box winner and… finally… Crash. That. Bus.

War Kitty is here! Inspired by the Desert Bus 2019 Late Night Dub Fight, we’re giving away this custom created Hello Kitty Gundam, complete with custom painting and decals, in this Donation Drive.

There are so many small details in this creation, anything we write here would overlook something, so we’re just gonna point you over to the details page to take in all the photos.

Donate $7.74 (or multiples thereof) for a chance to win this prize. We’ll run this donation drive until 5:30pm PST.

We’ve got less than two hours left on the second to last set of Silent Auctions for Desert Bus for Hope 2020. You’ll want to head over to the Silent Auctions page to check out and bid on “Solana, Crocheted Chocobo Plush” and “Watercolor Magic Tokens”.

Don’t delay! Make sure you’re logged in to your Donor Account and then head over to the Silent Auctions page to bid. These auctions close at 6:00pm PST!

We here at Desert Bus for Hope would like to take a moment to thank one of our returning prize sponsors for this year’s event: Wizards of the Coast.

Founded in 1990, Wizards of the Coast has been a powerhouse of the gaming world with their flagship franchises of Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. With countless numbers of players across the globe, the reach of the games of Wizards of the Coast is endless.

Thank you Wizards of the Coast for your continued support of Desert Bus for Hope!

It’s time for a Donation Drive featuring an uncut sheet of Magic: the Gathering uncommon foil cards. These uncut sheets are exceptionally difficult to come by and make wonderful artwork for your home!

Our friends at Card Kingdom have brought us a blast from the past (2014 to be exact) with this foil uncut sheet of commons from Magic 2015, featuring such great cards as Triplicate Spirits, Raise the Alarm, and Runeclaw Bear. Uncut sheets such as this one are not available to the public and are very hard to come by.

Donate $6.03 (or multiples thereof) for a chance to win this prize. We’ll run this donation drive until 4:30pm PST.

Today at 3:00pm PST, we’ve got a very special Live Auction! Generously donated live during Penn & Teller’s call-in earlier this week, we’ll be auctioning off one of Teller’s personal copies of the ultra rare out-of-print book set “The Magic of Johnny Thompson.” This mint condition copy is signed by the legendary magicians Johnny Thompson and Penn & Teller. In addition, Penn & Teller will add a personal message to the winner of this prize.

Penn and Teller described Johnny Thompson as their mentor and themselves as his fans for 40 years. We’re honored that Penn & Teller have generously donated this to support Desert Bus for Hope and Child’s Play.

For those that may be joining us for the first time, or want a quick refresher, here’s how to participate in Live Auctions…

• Make sure you’ve created a Donor Account here on desertbus.org and that you’ve linked your Donor Account to your Twitch Account. Make sure you do this ahead of time, as it can take a few minutes to for your accounts to sync. More info: https://imgur.com/a/Dl4c3jN
• Live Auctions are conducted in Twitch chat at twitch.tv/desertbus. To bid, use the syntax !bid Amount(####.##) (optional smack talk). Make sure your bid increases the previous high bid amount by at least 1%.
• Be sure to watch the chat for the latest auction calls, not the stream! The broadcast is usually on a slight delay.
• Please, no fake bidding! No random numbers! No prompting bidders to bid more or irresponsibly! Live Auctions are chaotic times in chat already, so our mods are extra vigilant about timeouts and bans.

WOOOOOAAHH! You all have helped raise over $700,000 for Child’s Play Charity this year!

Thank you for your continued support of Child’s Play Charity!

Shiny Magic: the Gathering cards! And a lot of them, too… this Donation Drive features a complete set of foil cards from the Magic: the Gathering 2020 Core Set.

Are you getting into Magic for the first time or are you coming back from a long break? The Core Sets are a great way to learn or refresh your knowledge of Magic: The Gathering. With this complete foil sets of Core Set 2020, you can start or continue your collection in style. It really is Magic time.

Donate $6.20 (or multiples thereof) for a chance to win this prize. We’ll run this donation drive until 2:00pm PST.

We’ve got another special guest joining us today on Alpha Flight… Jerry Holkins! Holkins writes the webcomic Penny Arcade along with its artist Mike Krahulik. Holkins sometimes uses the pseudonym “Tycho Brahe”, the name of his Penny Arcade character.

Together with Krahulik, Holkins created the Penny Arcade Expo beginning in 2004, a series of gaming festivals held in Seattle, Boston, Australia, and San Antonio. He is also a co-founder of Child’s Play, a multimillion-dollar charity which supports a network of hospitals worldwide and US domestic violence support facilities through donations of toys and games. He is also occasionally Omin Dran, CEO of Acquisitions Incorporated in the long-running Dungeons & Dragons game of the same name.

Jerry will be joining us throughout today’s Alpha Flight shift, so if you have a challenge or question for him, log in to or sign up for a Donor Account, then head on over to the Submit Challenge page to send us your request.