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grant,” he said. “The seed money for a lot of these has to come from philanthropic and other foundations. That money they raised a few years ago that was moved toward immunotherapies is enough to fund a lot of that preclinical work and even all the way up to a clinical trial. So that’s how important it is and how impactful that amount of money can be.” But even beyond the money they’re raising, just the presence of the Big Slick guys lifts the spirits of everyone involved—everyone from the patients and their families to the hospital staff. “I think it’s that they’re all very genuine and their hearts are really in it,” Myers said. “I’ve been
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very mindful of it because I’m very protective of Children’s Mercy. And when I see them in there, it’s good stuff. I really appreciate what they’re doing.” For Paige Walsh, it’s exactly the type of sincerity it’s going to take to move the needle on pediatric cancer. “I spent a lot of nights down at Children’s Mercy just awake and not being able to sleep, thinking, ‘We’ve got to be doing something for these kids.’ And so when the Big Slick came around, I’m like, ‘This is finally happening.’ I’m finally starting to see that, yes, somebody out there, somewhere, is working to help save our kids.” n