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Desert Bus for Hope is an online charity drive in which a squadron of geeks undertakes a staggeringly bad idea for a simulation game. Its sixth annual marathon runs through November 23. I asked Dammit Liz Productions' Liz Smith to give us a personal rundown of what Desert Bus is and why it matters.](https://more-deals.info/images_blogs/magazine/2012/11/DB6-logo1.jpg%29%3C/p%3E%3Cp class="paywall">
Most readers of this blog can attest to the stereotypes surrounding geeks and gamers. Whether it's the image of the socially awkward geek all the way up to the toxic environments that can be found within some online gaming cultures, people in the mainstream can be quick to paint us all with the same brush.
This is not who we are. Let me introduce you to Desert Bus for Hope. This event showcases just the opposite — a growing community of gamers who are positive and working together for a good cause.
Desert Bus for Hope is an online telethon, streaming 24 hours a day to raise money for Child’s Play, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of sick children. The organization donates more than $2 million in toys, games and cash to a network of over 70 hospitals around the world.
Just as geeks and gamers tend to be bit removed from the norm, so is this telethon. Instead of answering phones or running a marathon, the Desert Bus for Hope teams plays the worst video game ever. Seriously.
Designed by magicians Penn & Teller in the mid-’90s as a tongue-in-cheek parody of simulation games, Desert Bus "challenges" the player to drive a sim-bus between Tucson, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada. The road has no turns, curves, scenery, or even any other traffic. The game is in real time. A single run takes eight hours. Once arriving at the destination, the player is "awarded" one point and given the option to take the trek back.
The team behind Desert Bus is internet sketch-comedy group LoadingReadyRun. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, the group started the charity-drive-thru-video-game-driving six years ago and since then it has grown exponentially, raising over $380,000 for Child’s Play Charity in 2011 alone.
This event is much more than just playing a video game. Viewers are entertained by wacky challenges (think online busking) that can range from simple challenges like singing YMCA while in wacky costumes to performing the theme from Game of Thrones... on kazoo. Silent and live auctions of donated items bring in money and there are even special guest call-ins. Last year Mythbusters' Grant Imahara and author Neil Gaiman were two of the special guests to Skype in and answer fan questions.
All this sounds great, right? Well, to truly understand the impact that a charity like Child’s Play can have, I have to tell you my own story. I am a bit biased on this topic, because I have benefitted from the work of organizations such as Child’s Play. When I was eleven years old, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of lymph nodes. As a kid, my understanding of the significance of this illness or the idea of mortality was limited to films and books. Stories. I did not understand how serious it was.
What I did understand was that I was sick. I had to go to the hospital for medications that made me lose my hair, gave me a moonface, caused pain, and made me weak. I was different. I couldn’t go out and play with my friends. On the playground, the other kids stared. Eventually I had to work with a tutor to keep up in school; so much of my time was spent in the hospital.
I was fortunate enough to be treated at Seattle Children’s Hospital, a hospital with an excellent oncology department. I spent many hours in the hospital alone. Due to my weakened immunity system, when I went into the hospital it meant isolation. My parents spent as much time as they could with me, but they had to work and could not be there every minute. Being a kid, weak and alone in a hospital with IVs and drugs hooked up to me was not a lot of fun. It sucked. It was boring.
Then one day, a nurse rolled in an entertainment unit. Someone had donated a television, a Super Nintendo game system, and some games. It was such a gift. For a few hours a day I could be a kid. I played video games! I was no longer weak and frail, different and alone. With a feather, I could fly! I rode a dinosaur named Yoshi, I saved a princess. For a few hours a day life was better.
This is what these charities are about—taking something simple like a video game, putting it in a sick child's hands, and watching that child's face light up. Trust me. I know.
Events such as Desert Bus have not only given so much to sick children, they have created an incredibly giving community. Geeks and gamers from around the world have contributed to Desert Bus, and they come back every year to participate, donate and support. Over the previous five telethons, Desert Bus has raised $825,002. That's a lot of video games, books, movies, and hope for children looking for that shred of normalcy when surrounded by the unfamiliar world of hospitals and treatment.
“Desert Bus has grown from a small group of people hoping to do a little something to support a charity to an entire community of people from around the world that support the ideas behind Desert Bus,” says Mike Smith, a contributor to Desert Bus who has participated for the last four years.
“The craft-along group spends months making items to be auctioned, the chat room has people from across the globe talking all year long, and others have joined in to help make the event itself a bigger and smoother spectacle.”
For those people working tirelessly on the event and for those supporting it with donations, these positive contributions are a source of pride and a way to challenge mainstream misconceptions about gamers.
“While most people might not immediately see the connection between playing video games and charity, for those of us who grew up gaming and are proud to call ourselves geeks, events like this help erase negative stereotypes that can surround gaming,” says Kathleen De Vere of LoadingReadyRun.
If you are interested in donating to a good cause, I recommend Child’s Play Charity and Desert Bus for Hope. And if you're also looking to be entertained and see the best of the gaming community, check out DesertBus.org right now and take in the goofy entertainment.
While you're there, think about donating a few bucks—the short-term misery you inflict on the folks from LoadingReadyRun by making them play for just a little longer will pay off with long-term memories for the children you help.
Events like Desert Bus for Hope are helping to make lives better. They are creating a community of positivity and the charity of gamers is helping to improve the lives of sick children.
Mike Smith summed it up best. “I wait for Desert Bus each year to not only raise money to help children, but as a reminder that not only is there goodness in the world, but greatness.”
Photos: Ashton Cummings
