Welcome DB9 Volunteers!
Every year it becomes more and more apparent that it takes a small army to run an event as large as Desert Bus for Hope. As it turns out, there happens to be a small army of people willing to donate a week or more of their lives to doing nothing but Desert Bus! It’s astounding and we couldn’t be more grateful.
We have a ton of returning volunteers, some new faces, and some people flying in from 8 time zones away. We’re so pleased to be working with each and every one of you. Thank you for your time, skill, and above all your incredible sense of humour as we set out on this crazy sand-filled adventure together.
If you’re interested in volunteering for Desert Bus 10, email volunteers@desertbus.org. Your interest will be noted and you will receive an email when we open for DB10 volunteer applications.
Broadcast Team
Communications Team
Infrastructure & Software
Photographer
Public Relations
Shipping Team
Site Volunteers
Best of Games Quilt
Created & Donated by Tara Heilke
In those 11 and a half bleak, quiet months between one Desert Bus and the next, you can cozy up under this colourful commemorative quilt, consoling yourself by playing games with actual plots, mechanics, characters and even scenery. This quilt will remind you that Desert Bus, while the best of games, is really also the worst of games. While sadly not watching it, you can rest content in the fact that you are also not playing it. The quilt’s detailed stitching shows off the bug splat, the road, the pine tree air freshener, the steering wheel, and the Sega controller. And if you flip the quilt over… surprise! It’s reversible and the back displays a video game that a mildly sane person might actually want to spend time playing. Just don’t let that Tetris song get stuck in your head…
This is a cotton quilt with polyester filling measuring approximately 45″ wide x 66″ long (approx. 113 cm x165 cm).
About the artist:
Tara Heilke (the mother of Desert Bus’ very own Tally Heilke) is a longtime seamstress who’s especially fond of appliqué. In between making monster hoodies for baby gifts and duck-embellished slippers for her son-in-law, Tara enjoys doing side projects like making masks and tea cozies and whatever else she can think of. She generally feels that the world needs a little more colour and pizzaz in it.
Pokémon Legendary Bird Trio Cross-Stitch
Created & Donated by Kayla Riddle
Are you on your way to becoming a Pokémon master, but still haven’t caught the Gen 1 legendary birds? Well put down your Poké balls (or perhaps Ultra balls) and spend another night at the Pokémon Center because now you can have the legendary trio delivered to you! You no longer have to go on a long cruise to a cave filled with ice puzzles, make a special trip to your local power plant, or take a detour through a Zubat-infested Victory Road on the way to the Elite 4. Beautifully (and humanely!) captured in a black wooden frame, this legendary trio cross-stitch will be an excellent addition to your home décor! *Wire hanging kit included*
The piece is housed in a wooden frame with plexiglass. It is stitched with 14 ct Aida embroidery floss. Measurements of the full framed piece are 30″ by 10″.
About the artist:
Kayla, the crafter behind this item, has always been dabbling in different arts and crafts. One Christmas season, she found herself in need of gifts for friends, so picked up cross-stitching. However, she didn’t finish any in time and quit. Then one winter later, she craved the craft again, and has been cross-stitching ever since. She has even spread this fun to a friend.
Thank you so much for all your awesome submissions to the craft-along!
As always, we are thrilled by your creativity, artistic talent, and willingness to support our little fundraiser.
We’ve received an overwhelming number of submissions and they are being carefully vetted by our intrepid Craft-Along Coordinator. We ask for your patience and please allow 1-2 weeks for a response.
Thank you, again, for all your offers and ideas.
Desert Bus 9 is going to be full of amazing handcrafted items!
Do your hands make pretty things?
Want to show the world the awesome stuff you make AND raise money for a good cause?
The craft-along for Desert Bus 9 is open for submissions. This means that if you have an idea for a unique, fantastic, handmade item that you would like to donate to Desert Bus 9 now is the time to let us know!
Details on the submission process can be found here.
This year we will also be collecting for themed prize lots. If you’d like to contribute something to the “Space Lot” or the “Everybody PICNIC basket” we have a handy spreadsheet that can hopefully provide you with some inspiration.
All submissions must be received by July 20, 2015.
Please expect a 1-2 week response time; Tally’s fingers can only type so fast.
Here are some examples from the Desert Bus 8 craft-along:
This may be one of our last Donation Drives of Desert Bus for Hope 8, so make sure you get in on it!
We’ve set the bar pretty low on this one: it’s only $5.00 to get in! Before 10pm local time, donate $5.00 or a multiple thereof for an entry into the draw for the Mini Mystery Box! What’s in it? I don’t know! I’m not sure anyone knows!
(Yes, I know that’s only in two minutes, but how long does it take to make a $50 donation?!)
Taking a glance at our overlay, it appears that we have about 3 hours of bussing left, so let’s reflect a little on Paul’s rather extraordinary shift:
- We surpassed the Desert Bus 7 total (it was about $523k) and thereby became the earningest Desert Bus for Hope of all time! Of all time! As of right now, we’re sitting just above $600k, with a few earning hours still left to go!
- CBC Radio’s As It Happens covered us! The beloved interview-news program has is enjoyed across Canada and is even exported to other countries around the world!
- Paul’s shift surpassed $75,000 or so and became the earningest single shift in Desert Bus history! Of course, he passed that hours ago so as of press time he’s cruising somewhere above $140,000 and getting near to doubling the single-shift record!
- In fact, Paul’s shift alone has surpassed the entire amount raised by DB3!
- The muchly signed PS4 & PAX challenge coin became the earningest donation drive in Desert Bus history, bringing in $32,000 and more than doubling the old record of $14,000!
- We surpassed $600,000! Nice milestone!
- According to some funky James-rithmatic, since we’ve started, we’ve averaged $1.08 per second! WHAT.
According to the scoreboard we still have three hours of bussing left — plenty of time for some last minute surprises to come up!
Paul’s “Earn Every Dime” contest has a winner! Laserbeaks Fury was the winner for this clever little stanza:
Come all you fine girls of human descent.
You robots and aliens, with British accents.
I’ll tell you a story of toil and of strife
And the hardship that comes with a companion’s life
Well it’s off in the TARDIS to no one knows when.
Might be yesterday’s morning or the future again.
But you gotta keep running from all the nightmares,
Unless it’s a Dalek, then climb up some stairs.
And it’s hard, buddy, it’s hard
Travellin’ through all Space and Time
Well it’s hard, bucko, it’s hard
A companion earns every dime
Genius! Laserbeaks wins a Paul lenticular gif and some additional pig sweeteners besides!