The bus is on the road! With the power of cool technology and The Cloud, nothing is stopping this bus! Well, except maybe Random Dance Parties. Or losing the browser window. Or any other multitude of reasons for crashing the bus.

Alpha Flight kicked us off this year with an extended eight hour shift. Here’s what you’ve missed…

Help! We’re trapped in the computer!

Ian shows off this year’s button contraption…

Alpha Flight is now officially the chill pet stream.

And now… horse facts.

And finally, a very important Emergency Meeting about measurements.

Remember, for the latest updates, stay tuned to desertbus.org. You can also catch up on the latest #DB2020 happenings around the web…

• Submit your bussing from home photos at yourphotos.desertbus.org.
• Visit youtube.com/user/DesertBusForHope for the latest video highlights from the Video Strike Team (VST).
• Be our friend on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
• And, of course, the live stream is always available at desertbus.org and twitch.tv/desertbus!

There’s less than an hour left on our first set of Silent Auctions for this year’s Desert Bus for Hope! Throughout the run, check out the Silent Auctions page for the amazing crafted creations generously donated by our Craft-Along community.

Right now, you can bid on these creations: Baby Yoda cross-stitch and Blathers in Fabric artwork. Check out the details pages for each to see more photos and to bid. Remember… to bid on Silent Auctions, you’ll need to create a Donor Account!

For our next Giveaway, we’ve got a prize pack of loot for fans of VA-11 Hall-A! The drinks may be pixelated, but these VA-11 HALL-A goodies (and maybe the nanomachines?) are powerfully real. What’s in this prize lot? A lot of prizes from our friends at Ysbryd Games! Could we be more specific? Sure!

This lot includes: Four official Pinny Arcade lapel pins, featuring characters Stella, Sam, Jill, and Dana, respectively; two official plushes (cuddly Dana and snuggly Jill); and, naturally, the VA-11 HALL-A Collector’s Edition for PS4. The Collector’s Edition itself is a prize lot within a prize lot (prize-lot-ception, if you will), wrapped up in an exclusive Collector’s Edition art box and containing a physical copy of the game, a reversible 18″x24″ poster, the official artbook, the official soundtrack, and a Dorothy enamel magnet. Promise you’ll join us for a round of Moonblasts once you’re off the clock.

Donate $9.99 (or multiples there) for a chance to win this prize. We’ll run this giveaway until 5:15pm PST.

We here at Desert Bus for Hope would like to thank our founding organizing sponsor for this year, and every year’s event: LoadingReadyRun.

Founded in 2003, LoadingReadyRun started as a creative outlet for co-founders Graham Stark and Paul Saunders to fulfill their desire to make funny videos. Since then, LRR has grown into an internet comedy destination. Inspired in name and appearance by the Commodore 64 Home Computer System, LRR is a site run by (and for) geeks. They create videos and stream games because they love them, and they’re passionate about comedy. Today, they produce multiple live broadcasts, online shows, and podcasts, including: CheckPoint, Crap Shots, LoadingReadyLive, Road Quest, Qwerpline, CommodoreHustle, The Panelysts, and Friday Nights.

Thank you LoadingReadyRun for your continued support of Desert Bus for Hope!

It’s our first paper magic fight giveaway set of many generously donated to this year’s Desert Bus for Hope. For fans of Magic: the Gathering, we’re giving away a booster box and complete set of cards from the Modern Horizons release.

Introducing 254 cards straight into the Modern format, Modern Horizons is one of the most exciting and ambitious Magic sets in recent years. This booster box includes 36 booster packs, enough to draft with seven of your friends (with a few packs left over) in this engaging, complex, and rewarding draft experience.

But perhaps there is something keeping you from getting together with your friends right now, but you still want to start playing with these exciting new cards? This lot also includes a complete, non-foil set of Modern Horizons with one of each card in the set so you can start slotting these cards into your decks right away.

Donate $7.88 (or multiples thereof) for a chance to win this prize. We’ll run this giveaway until 3:00pm PST.

In case you missed it, our Desert Bus merch store is open! This year, we’ve got…

• The Desert Bus for Hope 2020 poster, illustrated throughout the run by M. Lee Lunsford.
• The Desert Bus for Hope 2019 photo book, edited by Kolin Toney.
• The Desert Bus Shift Banners playmat.
• The Desert Bus for Hope 2020 Pinny Arcade pin set, featuring the four shift banners.

As in previous years, the proceeds from Desert Bus for Hope merch on the store is split between the creators, LoadingReadyRun (to help cover administrative costs), and Child’s Play.

Check out the store at store.desertbus.org!

And… don’t forget about the official Desert Bus for Hope 2020 T-Shirt, created and distributed by Fangamer! The profits from each sale goes to Child’s Play.

It’s time to kick off our first giveaway of Desert Bus for Hope 2020! With the cold weather of winter rolling in, you might want this fashionable Shift Scarf for the season. (Or, if you’re in the southern hemisphere, wear it during summer too! It’s just as fashionable.)

This hand-woven, plaid scarf is made of 80% wool, 20% nylon in the four shift colors. The yarn was sourced from Neighborhood Fiber Co. Although the scarf is lightweight (330g) and drapes well, it is warm! It is 18-1/2″ x 74″, with an additional 4-3/4″ of twisted fringe on each end, for a total length of 83-1/2″.

Donate $8.20 (or multiples thereof) for a chance to win this prize! We’ll run this giveaway until 1:15pm PST.

(And, while you’re here, we recommend creating a Donor Account and adding your PayPal email! If you win a prize, it’ll help our shipping team get your prize to you faster. And, with a Donor Account, you can set a display name, submit challenges, and more!)

…So you better get in before they’re gone!

First for the run of 2020 we’ve got two auctions. First up!

A “The Child”/Baby Yoda cross-stitch made by Malackey. To donate just click the link, log in, make sure your accounts are all set up and ready to go (INCLUDING A DONOR ACCOUNT!) and give it a shot!

Next up…

A Blathers fabric canvas art piece made by Sara’s Fabric Arts. This cute and unique item is on auction until 6pm PST so take a crack at it!

With Desert Bus for Hope being all virtual this year, photographing all the behind the scenes and happenings of Desert Bus is more of a challenge than usual.

Since Desert Bus is coming from home, we all have our own behind-the-scenes to show off this year! Photo submissions are now open at yourphotos.desertbus.org!

We want to see your Desert Bus for Hope 2020 experience! Show us your watching setup, your collection of Desert Bus swag or prizes, or anything DB2020 related! Get creative with it; there’s no limitations. Get as weird as ZETA or as organized as Alpha Flight! It’s completely up to you, go as HAM as Night Watch! …and Dawn Guard? (They’re cool, too)

If selected, your photo could be used not only on the Official Desert Bus Photo Feed at photos.desertbus.org, but it could be featured in the Desert Bus 2020 photo book, if a photo book is made.

So, grab your camera, grab your phone, grab your camera phone!

Make sure everything’s in focus.

Hold steady

Click!

Once your photo is ready, snap on over to yourphotos.desertbus.org to submit it!

I hope you’re ready for your shift!

Thank you so much for joining us for this odd year. We have worked really hard to make sure we can still bring you the joy and love you’re used to, even if we have to stay apart.

And of course, in the usual tradition, you have already pushed us past a Desert Buck!

We have some grand plans, some lovely humans, and you, our wonderful viewers. We can’t wait to spend this week with you.