Kansas City's Native Sons Return for Fifth Annual Big Slick Charity Fundraiser
The boys are back in town. Actors Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis - along with new co-hosts for 2014, David Koechner and Eric Stonestreet - return to Kansas City the weekend of June 20, 2014 to kick off the fifth annual Big Slick Celebrity Weekend. The Kansas and Missouri natives will bring with them a gathering of celebrity friends, as well as one-of-a-kind items for public auction, all to benefit Big Slick's 2014 charity benefactor, the Cancer Center at Children's Mercy of Kansas City.
Big Slick started in 2010 as a celebrity poker tournament and party hosted by Riggle, Rudd and Sudeikis. Over the past four years, celebrity friends such as Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Johnny Knoxville, John Oliver and Nick Kroll, as well as Koechner and Stonestreet (now co-hosts), have attended Big Slick and helped to raise more than $1.4 million for charity. Leading up to this year's events, celebrity guests will be announced via the Big Slick Facebook page.Â
Big Slick 2014 will take place in Kansas City on Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21 and feature three core events. Celebrity attendees will participate in the Big Slick Celebrity Classic baseball game at The Little K, the Big Slick Celebrity Bowl bowling tournament and the Big Slick Celebrity Party & Auction.
- The Big Slick Celebrity Classic baseball game will take place at the Little K at Kauffman Stadium (1 Royal Way, Kansas City, MO) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 20, prior to the Kansas City Royals playing the Seattle Mariners at 7:10 p.m. Anyone holding a game ticket for the Royals-Mariners match-up is invited to attend the Big Slick Celebrity Classic softball game beforehand; gates open at 5:00 p.m.
- The Big Slick Celebrity Bowl bowling tournament will be held at Pinstripes Bowling | Bocce | Bistro located at Prairiefire (13500 Nall Avenue, Overland Park, KS) at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 21; doors open at 10 a.m. Sponsorships are available for purchase online.Â
- The Big Slick Celebrity Party & Auction is the main event of the weekend and will be hosted at the Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland (1228 Main St, Kansas City, MO) at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 21. The party will feature games, laughs and one-of-a-kind auction items (previous years' items have included set visits to "Modern Family," "This is 40" and "Anchorman 2;" and the premieres of "The Campaign," "Horrible Bosses" and "We're the Millers"). Sponsorships and individual tickets are available for purchase online.
More information is available at www.bigslickkc.org, as well as via Big Slick's social media channels: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About Big Slick
Big Slick started in 2010 as a celebrity poker tournament and party hosted by Kansas City natives and comedic actors Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis to raise money for Children's Mercy of Kansas City. Each year, Riggle, Rudd and Sudeikis invite celebrity friends to participate in the weekend; alumni from years past include Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Johnny Knoxville, John Oliver, Nick Kroll and many others. Big Slick alumni David Koechner and Eric Stonestreet join Riggle, Rudd and Sudeikis as official Big Slick co-hosts for 2014.Â
Now approaching its fifth year, Big Slick has donated more than $1.4 million to Children's Mercy, helping the non-profit hospital expand its Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and family/play rooms; add entertainment systems to every oncology hospital room; and purchase more than $500K in advanced early detection equipment.Â
About the Cancer Center at Children's Mercy
The Children's Mercy Cancer Center mission is to help improve the physical and emotional well being of children with cancer and their families. The center provides comprehensive care to nearly 2,000 children each year with childhood cancers, sickle cell disease, hemophilia and other blood disorders. At any given time, the Center is participating in nearly 100 clinical trials, including several national trials led by Children's Mercy investigators. Trial groups include the Children's Oncology Group, the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium and the Pediatric Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Investigators Consortium. In 2012, the Center received accreditation from American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, which recognizes hospitals that meet the highest standards for cancer care.
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