In between the wisecracks and giggles and silliness at their press conference Friday morning, the homegrown co-hosts of Big Slick Celebrity Weekend made a point to emphasize what it’s really all about.

Eric Stonestreet teared up as he recalled a moment musician Philip Bowen shared with a young Children’s Mercy patient. “We walked into a little girl’s room last year and she clearly loved Disney and we just said, ‘What’s your favorite Disney song?’

And she said Little Mermaid,” Stonestreet said. “(Bowen) just goes right into ‘The Little Mermaid’ theme and my group just stood there as this little girl swayed along to Philip playing, and then he played another one.”

“We walked out and Philip literally crumbled to his knees and started crying because he couldn’t believe what he was able to do and witness. In that moment, he said he will never say no to coming here as long as you invite me and that happens with every one of our groups.”

The celebrity-led charity weekend is back in Kansas City and is the biggest ever. The annual fundraiser celebrates 15 years of benefiting Children’s Mercy, and this year hosts Stonestreet, Heidi Gardner, Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis assembled the largest assortment of celebrity guests in its history — 59 in total.

Host David Koechner couldn’t make it again this year because he had to fly back to Los Angeles for his daughter’s graduation. (He did make media appearances on Wednesday, though.) “It’s the biggest slick we’ve ever had,” Riggle said in the Children’s Mercy Research Institute’s Big Slick Auditorium.

“It’s a testament to the great city of Kansas City because we show up and everyone here is so wonderful and nice. When people go back to New York or Los Angeles, they talk about this event and what a special thing it is.” Co-host Rob Riggle cracked up during the Big Slick press conference Friday at Children’s Mercy Research Institute. HG Biggs [email protected] And Rudd agreed that one of the best parts is hanging with the kids and their families at Children’s Mercy.

Big Slick has raised more than $20 million, helping to attract top medical and research talent by exposing a national audience to the work of the Children’s Mercy Research Institute. It began in 2010 as a celebrity poker tournament and has become the biggest celebrity event of the year in Kansas City.

From left, Big Slick co-hosts Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Rob Riggle, Eric Stonestreet and Heidi Gardner spoke at Children’s Mercy Research Institute on Friday. HG Biggs [email protected] ‘FRIENDLY FEUD’ BETWEEN THE HOSTS After the press conference, the hosts split into teams with some celebrity guests for a few games of Family Feud — renamed “Friendly Feud” for the Children’s Mercy patients in the audience.

Like last year, game show host and Children’s Mercy employee Trista Tate tried her best to keep the game under control, but with so many comedians and personalities all under one roof making the auditorium laugh, it was a tough task. Stonestreet ran down both aisles after his team correctly guessed all the answers in the category “What’s your favorite soda?”

The crowd went crazy when Al Roker of NBC’s “Today” show guessed Elsa in the category “name a princess,” and the “Frozen” character’s name didn’t pop up. Tate had to remind everyone that if you’re a real Disney fan, then you knew Elsa was a queen and not a princess.

“I guess we have to let it go,” actress Katherine McNamara, who grew up in Lee’s Summit, said in response. In the category of “name something hot,” “Stranger Things” star Gaten Matarazzo said water, drawing a lot of questions from his teammates and the room. Comedian James Murray asked if his answer could be Paul Rudd when it was his team’s turn.

While Murray’s team didn’t commit to the answer, Matarazzo did and the crowd erupted when Rudd’s name appeared, securing his team the victory.