A fund has been established to benefit a team of young Chinese acrobats who got stranded in Dallas last week.

The Guanhua Acrobatic team from Shanghai flew in from New York on Feb. 11 with no solid transportation or housing arrangements. Their promoter, Gary Tullberg, has said he ran out of money and asked the Union Gospel Mission homeless shelter to pick them up.

The performers, who are between the ages of 12 to 21, stayed at two homeless shelters for two days before an old friend from the circus world, Doug Terranova, heard about their plight and took the group of 18 into his Kaufman County home.

"Everything's great. There have been some donations," Mr. Terranova said Tuesday. "They don't want to go anywhere else. They want to stay here."

Members of the team have said they are delighted to stay with their trusted friend, but it was unclear how long they would need to stay in Kaufman County.

The performers were just starting a nine-month U.S. tour under contract with Mr. Tullberg when the plans unraveled, Mr. Terranova said. He and the team's agent are now trying to find work for the troupe.

The acrobats will showcase their talents at the Society of Texas Entertainment Professionals convention March 2 in Austin. Dozens of booking agents are expected to attend.