The Big Slick Fundraiser Raises Money for Children’s Mercy Cancer Center

Photo Courtesy of MCT Campus

Actors Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet and David Koechner hosted the Big Slick Celebrity Weekend, an event to benefit the Cancer Center at Children’s Mercy, in Kansas City on June 17-18.

On the first day, there was a celebrity softball game at Kauffman Stadium before the Royals take on the Detroit Tigers. The next morning there was be a bowling tournament at Pinstripes Bowling and a red carpet event that is open to the public. An auction and party featuring live music and comedy took place in the evening at the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. All Big Slick event tickets, which were available online, sold out.

The hosts brought local and national attention to the event by using social media like Twitter to encourage people to donate to their “campaign”. The competed for people of all ages “votes”, which cost $1 each, and contributors could earn limited-edition clothes and other gear. Event volunteers have also handed out signs with slogans, such as “Pledge Allegiance to Sudeikis,” “In Rudd We Trust” and “Liberty and Riggle for All,” to plant in people’s yards.

“The signs are being used as a promotional stunt and to mimic the political campaign currently going on,” said Riggle’s brother-in-law and Big Slick board member Mark McKee. “The Big Slick committee pretty much plans the event with the hosts giving their input because they are busy and don’t live here.”

Whichever host won didn’t actually get anything, but they all had the same goal of raising a combined total of at least $1 million.

“We’re at the seven-year mark, and our reach is further than it’s ever been, both within the city and nationally,” Koechner’s sister and Big Slick board member Joan Charbonneau said in an interview with the Kansas City Star.

Big Slick was created in 2010 after Riggle hosted a poker tournament with fellow Shawnee Mission graduates Rudd and Sudeikis. Since that initial event, which raised $120,000, Big Slick has raised more than $3 million. Each year the fundraiser has evolved and added more events to get the public involved, earning the name of Big Slick Celebrity Weekend.