Purchasing a ticket to the Shrine Circus doesn't just buy your way into a show packed with crazy clowns, amazing acrobats and pounds of popcorn - it helps kids get the medical help they need.
The Shrine Circus has come to the Battlefords nearly every year since the mid-1950s.
This year the circus will be held May 25 at the Civic Centre.
Pat Hutchison, president of the Battlefords Shrine Club, is hoping for total attendance of 1,500 people over two shows. The club will be giving away 2,000 free tickets for school kids from pre-school age up to Grade 4.
Money raised through the WA WA Shrine Circus supports 22 Shrine hospitals in North America, which cost about $2 million a day to run - a cost fully covered by the Shriners.
Saskatchewan children are usually sent to a clinic in Winnipeg, then directed to the appropriate hospital, with the Shriners covering all medical and transportation costs, including parents' accommodations.
At these hospitals, more than 960,000 children have been treated for orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate.
"Any of these children who have run out of hope, there's nothing that can be done locally, these are the kids we try to help," Hutchison said.
"A lot of the children are shy and quiet because of their disability. By the time they're done with the Shriners they're happy and outgoing."
More than 5,000 Saskatchewan children have been helped by the Shriners since 1922. Currently there are 64 patients from this province.
At the moment, the Shriners aren't looking after anyone local, but families from this area have been helped in the past.
