Desert Bus for Hope 4 (Charity Event - Extra Credits appearing as guests!)

[HalcyonSpirit]

It's November and Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so it's time for the 4th Annual Desert Bus for Hope charity event!

Desert Bus for Hope is a internet donation drive gaming marathon (the very first, which spawned other similar drives such as Super Mario Marathon) run by the crew of Loading Ready Run, an internet comedy group. Its purpose is to gather donations for the hugely successful Child's Play Charity, which donates money and toys to children's hospitals around the world and is run by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade. If you're unfamiliar with Child's Play, go check it out and consider donating to it directly or through Desert Bus for Hope.

Desert Bus for Hope, like other donation drive gaming marathons it has spawned, runs on the basis of "the more you donate, the longer they have to play." This is particularly interesting for DBfH, however, as the LRR crew is playing what is widely accepted as the most boring game on the face of the planet: Desert Bus. Various incentives are given to encourage donations, including having the LRR crew perform whatever you ask them to, within reason. Dances, songs and acting are common, and torturing one member by forcing him to go watch the latest Twilight movie repeatedly has been a staple of the event.

Prizes donated by comic book companies, game companies, artists and the like are auctioned off throughout the event. Last year, Oni Press contributed a Scott Pilgrim prize pack, and Ken Steacy auctioned off many rare items as well as custom sketches of anything the donor wished (the results shown here), drawn live on camera.

Celebrity guests also make appearances. Penn and Teller phone in their support each year. Jonathon Coulton, Wil Wheaton and Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw also phoned in for interviews during the event.

This year, they have many people from The Escapist calling in during the event, including Yahtzee and the cast of Extra Credits!

Between the general donations, donations for performances, and donations in auctions, Desert Bus for Hope has contributed over $230,000 to Child's Play Charity over the past 3 years, with last year's total topping $140,000. They are hoping to top that mark again this year.

Don't miss the event! The bus leaves Tuscon for Las Vegas today at 6PM PST (9PM EST)! Donate to make them suffer even longer. For the children!

[HalcyonSpirit]

If anyone's interested in the Extra Credits call-in, it is scheduled for Sunday night at 10PM EST, 7PM PST.

In other news, the latest auction item was a signed copy of Yahtzee's book Mog World with a limerick written by Yahtzee on the inside cover (or first blank page, something like that). The book normally goes for $12. In a show of just how generous the viewers can be, a bidding war ensued that started at $24 and went for about 7 minutes. The final, winning bid was $1,100.