Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey Donates To Children's Hospital

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has made a $10,000 donation to Children's Hospital to support local pediatric patients.

Pittsburgh is one of 50 cities where Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is making a $10,000 donation to a local children's hospital or treatment center. Performers from the circus also visited patients and families at the hospital on Thursday, a special treat for families who might not be able to make it to a show.

"At Ringling Bros. we focus on entertaining families and giving back to the communities where we perform every week," said Alana Feld, Executive Vice President of Feld Entertainment and Producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.

Ringling Bros. also invited 100 special hospital guests to attend Friday night's performance at CONSOL Energy Center.

And there's another connection between Ringling Bros. and children's hospitals. Dr. Joshua Schiffman, a pediatric oncologist in Salt Lake City, and a team of researchers are using DNA from Ringling Bros. elephants in cancer research. There is a low incidence of cancer in elephants, and scientists hope to learn more about why this is and if there is a connection that could help with new treatments for pediatric cancers.

For each of the $10,000 donations made across 50 cities, Ringling Bros. Children's Fund will donate $10,000 to the Primary Children's Hospital Foundation to support the Pediatric Cancer Research Program, which helped support the elephant research.

"Twenty years ago, we founded the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in order to preserve the endangered Asian elephant for future generations. Little did we know then that they may hold the key to cancer treatment, and we're tremendously excited to be a part of it," said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment.

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is in town for eight shows at CONSOL Energy Center. The final performances are on Sunday, November 8th.

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