Simplify the following text for a Grade 8 native English-speaking person.
Original: However , in 1969 , Jim Hough , a then-columnist of the Lansing State Journal , used his column to bring together concerned citizens and local-area residents to raise money to help revitalize the zoo . The same year , the Friends of the Zoo Society was formed .
Simplified: In 1969 a columnist of the Lansing State Journal encouraged residents to raise money for the zoo .