Can they beat $3.5M? Big Slick announces dates for next Children’s Mercy fundraiser
Next year’s Big Slick Celebrity Weekend fundraiser will take place on June 2 and 3, when its homegrown celebrity hosts will try to surpass the very high bar they set for themselves this year, organizers announced Wednesday.
The Fab Five — Jason Sudeikis, Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd, Eric Stonestreet and David Koechner — and a stage full of their Hollywood pals raised a record $3.5 million for the Cancer Center at Children’s Mercy last June.
Sudeikis participated in absentia, canceling at the last minute because of the production schedule of his Emmy-winning show, “Ted Lasso,” in London.
But Missouri-born rocker Sheryl Crow was there. And before we go any further we will repeat the plea we made after the boisterous celebrity auction and party at the T-Mobile Center: Sheryl Crow, please come back.
In her first Big Slick appearance, Crow told the enthusiastic Big Slick crowd how much she had admired the event and its cause over the years.
After the show, she posted a selfie lounging with her French bulldog, Buster — her other dog is a mixed-breed named Jewels — and marveled at the night’s tally.
This was a comeback year for the event, which had been forced to go virtual in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Next year’s 14th annual fundraiser, on the weekend after Memorial Day, should look much like this year’s:
▪ Friday, June 2: The Big Slick Celebrity Classic game at Kauffman Stadium before the Kansas City Royals play the Colorado Rockies. Access is included for anyone attending the Royals game.
▪ Saturday, June 3: The Big Slick Party & Show, the main event of the weekend, returns to the T-Mobile Center.
More details, including ticket prices and celebrity guests, will be unveiled in the spring when tickets go on sale. Until then you can watch for information at bigslickkc.org or follow Big Slick on Facebook (facebook.com/BigSlickKC), Twitter (@BigSlickKC), Instagram (@BigSlickKC) and YouTube (youtube.com/BigSlickKC).
More than 30 celebrities, several with Missouri and Kansas ties like their hosts, appeared at this year’s softball game and show, including Blue Springs native and “American Idol” winner David Cook, who sang. (By the way, he performs at Knuckleheads on Oct. 29.)
“Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek showed off his “Dancing With the Stars” skills.
And the man who made Rudd cry on YouTube, Sean Evans, hosted a Big Slick edition of his show, “Hot Ones,” in which Rudd and Stonestreet led two teams answering quiz questions and eating hot wings.
Big Slick began in 2010 as a poker tournament — Big Slick is the name of a poker hand — and grew into a weekend of events coordinated by the hosts’ sisters, mothers and other family members.
Before this year, it had raised more than $13 million since 2010.
Now who wouldn’t give a million dollars to see the celebs and their adorable dogs next year?
We’ve seen pictures of Ant-Man strolling around New York with a pup.
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