Global Financial Leader Partners with Jacksonville Zoo
 and Gardens to Offer New Education Program

AXA Advisors’ Large Donation Makes Program Possible

February 1, 2008 – Jacksonville, FL – Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens announced that AXA Advisors, LLC, a member of the AXA Group-- a global leader in financial protection services--has recently donated $115,000 to the Zoo.  The donation will be used to fund the cost of the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens’ innovative new Cell Phone Tours program, an educational and fun way to learn about animals and plants at the Zoo.  The Tours will officially begin throughout the Zoo on February 1, 2008. 

“We are very pleased to welcome AXA Advisors as a sponsor,” said Zoo Executive Director Dennis Pate.  “It is great to partner with a corporation who shares our interest and enthusiasm for education and is such a committed philanthropist. We hope to continue this partnership for years to come.”

Visitors will be able to use their cell phones to key in codes displayed on signage at the various animal and plant exhibits in the Zoo to get answers to questions like “why do siamangs sing?  The calls are free, thanks to the AXA Advisors sponsorship; however, the caller’s minutes will be used.  Each call is around 60 seconds long.

The $115,000 AXA partnership will also include sponsoring the gorilla viewing window in the Great Apes area, the gorilla facts on the Zoo’s Web site (AXA has a gorilla mascot), and ExZOOberation—the Zoo’s most notable invitation-only fundraising event. 

“The Jacksonville branch is thrilled to be involved with this cutting edge educational experience,” commented Jeff Hartman, Executive Vice President of the South Central division of AXA Advisors.  “We have a history of community involvement and are proud to support the educational endeavors of the Jacksonville Zoo and services that enhance our communities.”

The AXA Advisors Jacksonville branch is located at One Enterprise Ctr., 225 Water Street, Suite 1235.  AXA Advisors, LLC is a leading provider of financial services for individuals and businesses, working with clients to help them define and work toward their financial goals, offering financial, retirement, and estate planning strategies; asset allocation strategies; and annuities, life insurance and investments, including mutual funds. Securities products are offered through AXA Advisors, LLC, member FINRA, SIPC.  Insurance and annuity products are available through AXA Network, LLC, an insurance brokerage affiliate.  Over 6,000 AXA Advisors financial professionals practice in communities throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, serving over three million individual and business clients.

For over 90 years, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has been dedicated to inspiring the discovery and appreciation of wildlife through innovative experience in a caring environment. Starting in 1914 with an animal collection that consisted of one red deer fawn, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has grown to house more than 1,500 rare and exotic animals and over 1,000 unique plant species. The Jacksonville Zoo is a non-profit organization and is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).  It is open year-round, seven days a week, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and is located on Jacksonville’s north side at 370 Zoo Parkway, one-half mile east from I-95.  For more information on the Zoo, log on to www.jacksonvillezoo.org.

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