[Tom Morrow]

High School Musical stars' zoo fundraiser turns out to be a fraud

The Zoo gets duped Fund-raiser featuring High School Musical stars canceled The Destin Log, Floirida The Zoo Northwest Florida is considering legal action after a celebrity fund-raiser in the works for more than a year ended up being a hoax. A promoter posing to be a representative and relative of Zac Efron, star of the Disney Channel's popular High School Musical franchise, contacted the facility last year about scheduling a fund-raiser for The Zoo, said Danyelle Lantz, The Zoo's executive director. Plans for the Aug. 9 event fell through this week when The Zoo learned there was a problem with its contract. Follow-up phone calls to offices in New York and to agents in Los Angeles revealed that there were contracts with the celebrities who had no idea their names had been linked to a fund-raiser in Gulf Breeze. The Zoo had scheduled a news conference Wednesday to announce plans for the fund-raiser, but canceled it Tuesday. Actor Cody Linley, who has appeared on the Disney Channel's Hannah Montana series, and High School Musical performer Drew Seeley were expected to be at The Zoo for Wednesday's news conference. Lantz said The Zoo had been working with the promoter for more than a year. In that time there had been conference calls, e-mail correspondence, talks with zoo board members and the promoter. Contracts had also been signed. Even if the fund-raiser had not sold out, Lantz said The Zoo was projecting to raise $150,000. The money would have been used to offset a shortfall in operating funds because attendance has been down about 20 percent this year because of the economy. The Zoo is considering suing the promoter. Dusty Ricketts, Florida Freedom Newspapers complete article

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