Expansion of Climate Change Partnership made possible by CBS EcoMedia advertiser

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore was presented with a check today from Kevin Chidwick, CEO of Elephant Auto Insurance to provide financial support for the Maryland Zoo‘s Climate Change Partnership program. The Partnership program is in support of the Zoo’s mission to inspire and educate people to join with it in active support and conservation of wildlife and wild places.

“Since its inception in 2005, the Maryland Zoo Exchange Program has grown in scope and content,” said Don Hutchinson, president/CEO of The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. “Now through WJZ-TV and EcoMedia, we were able to double the number of teachers from last year and help them make a real impact on their students and their school. As a conservation-education organization, we are always striving to reach wider audiences with our programs in the hopes of make a greater impact on behalf of the natural world.”

Through the EcoMedia collaboration with The Maryland Zoo, Elephant Auto Insurance’s EcoAd® advertising provided the funding to support ten Maryland schoolteachers in educating their students in grades 4 through 8 about climate change. In turn, these teachers and their students become active agents for change as they conduct classroom energy audits and develop action plans for reducing their collective carbon emissions. Students of participating teachers are invited to come to the Zoo on a field trip where they will participate in a ZOOlab and discover how the changing climates of the world impact habitats and species.

“For Elephant, the decision to fund this project was an easy one. We are a paperless company, and in the corporate world, being green isn’t an easy undertaking, but it’s important,” said Kevin Chidwick, CEO of Elephant Auto Insurance. “We believe that being involved in the community is critical to not only the company’s growth but Baltimore’s success as well and that success starts with the kids’ (education). We’re excited about this project because it teaches kids about the environment in a fun way, that’s engaging and hands on.”

“Companies like Elephant Auto Insurance understand the importance of environmental stewardship and the need to take action, be it through energy-efficiency initiatives or environmental education programs. Thanks to Elephant Auto Insurance’s continued support and investment in programs like the Climate Change Partnership, the Maryland Zoo is able to expand programming to reach more teachers and more students,” said Paul Polizzotto, president and founder of EcoMedia. “Public-private partnerships like this one are what inspire us at EcoMedia, and we’re excited to be partnering with Elephant Auto Insurance and the Maryland Zoo again.”


About CBS EcoMedia Inc.

EcoMedia was founded in 2002 by social entrepreneur Paul Polizzotto. The company’s mission is to harness the power of the advertising dollar to make tangible, quality of life improvements in communities nationwide. In 2010, after successfully partnering on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia was acquired by CBS Corporation, exponentially scaling its reach across television, radio, interactive, and publishing media.

Through EcoMedia’s patent-pending EducationAd, WellnessAd, EcoAd, and Viewers to Volunteers advertising programs, national brands and local businesses provide millions of dollars in financial support to some of the nation’s most effective nonprofit organizations, funding critical veterans, education, wellness, and environmental projects nationwide.

EcoMedia’s innovative and proprietary business model has fundamentally altered the advertising and nonprofit landscapes, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change.

EcoMedia has earned numerous awards and recognitions for its work, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors Award for Excellence in Public Private Partnerships (2009), Edison Awards for Social Innovation and Social Impact (2012, 2013), and the Starlight Children’s Foundation’s “General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Leadership Award,” which honors individual and organizational leaders who are doing extraordinary work to advance the common good and strengthen their communities.

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By participating in EcoMedia’s EcoAd, WellnessAd, EducationAd, and Viewers to Volunteers advertising programs, EcoMedia’s advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities. EcoMedia’s advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.

About Elephant Auto Insurance

Founded in 2009, Elephant is a direct-to-consumer automobile insurance company that prides itself on providing quality services and great prices to its thousands of customers nationwide. Located in Richmond, VA, Elephant Insurance Services, LLC and Elephant Insurance Company are wholly owned subsidiaries of Admiral Group, plc, one of the leading insurance companies in the United Kingdom. Elephant believes people who like what they do, do it better and therefore encourages a climate of individual contributions, long-term commitment and profitable growth within the organization. Thanks to this philosophy, Elephant has garnered recognition as an award-winning employer; Elephant was named one of the Best Places to Work in Virginia, as well as one of the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces in the United States in 2011 and 2012. To learn more about Elephant or to get a car insurance quote go to www.elephant.com, or call 1-855-ELEPHANT (1-855-353-7426).

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