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Ringling Brothers visit Brooklyn Hospital and bring more than just smiles

March 11, 2016 Christopher Malone

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by SB News

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The Greatest Show on Earth brought circus fun to young patients at Brooklyn Hospital, on Wednesday, February 24, as the ringmaster of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, joined by a troupe of acrobats, clowns and dancers, showed up to perform for current and former patients of the hospital’s pediatric hematology and oncology departments.

In addition, the circus donated $10,000 to the hospital, as well as 150 tickets for the Barclays Center show, and chose a four-year-old to receive the check at the show. The staff at the hospital was excited to go to the show and thankful for the foundation’s donation.

Brooklyn Hospital will use the sizeable donation to aid local pediatric cancer and hematology patients.

But, the circus’s commitment to the cause goes beyond the single event and donation. Ringling Brothers is performing a cancer research tour at hospitals around the country in order to raise awareness of the issue. Dr. Joshua Schiffman of the University of Utah Department of Pediatrics and the Huntsman Cancer Institute is working in association with Ringling Brothers and the Feld Foundation to study the effects of cancer on elephants and their natural resistance to it, in hopes of leading to breakthroughs to aid people around the world.

In early May, Ringling Brothers will retire its elephants ranging in age from five to 47, which will live on a 200-acre plantation, where they will mostly be used for reproductive purposes, but also to aid Schiffman’s research.