Kansas City Star: Big Slick 2018 rockets over $2 million, setting another record

By Jenee Osterheldt and Sharon Hoffmann

It pays to have a hometown superhero. In 2018, that’s $2,099,787.

By the end of the Big Slick Celebrity Weekend auction on a star-studded Saturday night — the finale of two jam-packed days of events to benefit Children's Mercy Hospital — the total broke $2 million for the first time since the annual fundraiser launched in 2010.

"Every dollar we raise is a blow against cancer," said actor Rob Riggle, who co-hosts Big Slick with fellow local celebrities Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet and David Koechner. "That's why we're here. That's why we all flew in."

They were joined Saturday by about three dozen celebrity guests on the stage at Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland.

Read about all of the Big Slick weekend events via The Kansas City Star.

By Matt Campbell

Big Slick Celebrity Weekend No. 9 began with a lovefest Friday between Kansas City and some of her favorite sons.

Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd, Eric Stonestreet and David Koechner dropped by Children's Mercy hospital to claim it was they who were the winners in the annual fundraiser for the pediatric cancer unit.

"It kind of makes us feel a little dirty, in my opinion, because everyone is no nice to us and complimentary of us but we leave here with a bankful of smiles and love, and it feels a little like we're getting too much credit because we are getting so much in return," Stonestreet said at a kickoff press conference.

To be sure, Children's Mercy and its roughly 180 new child cancer patients a year benefit from the more than $6 million raised since 2010 to support comprehensive medical care, pediatric research, playrooms, family rooms and education.

Read more about the Big Slick visit to Children's Mercy via the Kansas City Star.

Learn about the Children's Mercy Cancer Center.

Find out how you can "Give Mercy" and help the kids at the hospital.