SUPPLEMENT TO THE PROSPECTUSES
                                       OF
                        EVERGREEN DOMESTIC EQUITY FUNDS I
                       EVERGREEN DOMESTIC EQUITY FUNDS II
                          EVERGREEN EQUITY INDEX FUNDS
                 EVERGREEN INTERMEDIATE AND LONG TERM BOND FUNDS
                EVERGREEN SHORT AND INTERMEDIATE TERM BOND FUNDS
                     EVERGREEN NATIONAL MUNICIPAL BOND FUNDS
                  EVERGREEN SOUTHERN STATE MUNICIPAL BOND FUNDS
                      EVERGREEN STATE MUNICIPAL BOND FUNDS
                        EVERGREEN VARIABLE ANNUITY FUNDS
                          EVERGREEN MONEY MARKET FUNDS
                   EVERGREEN INSTITUTIONAL MONEY MARKET FUNDS
                           (collectively, the "Funds")

I.       The  prospectus(es)  of each of the Funds are  hereby  supplemented  as
follows.  The  following  section  has been added under "HOW TO CHOOSE THE SHARE
CLASS THAT BEST SUITS YOU":

      SHORT-TERM TRADING POLICY
      Excessive short-term trading in a Fund's shares by investors can be
      detrimental to the interests of long-term shareholders. Excessive
      short-term trading may disrupt portfolio management of the Fund, harm Fund
      performance, create transaction and other administrative costs that are
      borne by all shareholders and, ultimately, result in a dilution of or
      otherwise negatively impact the value of the Fund's shares.

      To limit the negative effects on the Funds of short-term trading, the
      Funds have adopted certain restrictions on trading by investors. Investors
      are limited to three "round trip" exchanges per calendar quarter and five
      "round trip" exchanges per calendar year. A "round trip" exchange occurs
      when an investor exchanges from one fund to another fund and back to the
      original fund. In addition, each Fund reserves the right to reject any
      purchase or exchange, and to terminate an investor's investment or
      exchange privileges, if the Fund determines in its sole discretion that
      the trading activity by the investor may be materially detrimental to the
      interests of long-term shareholders. The Funds may reject purchases or
      exchanges, or terminate investment or exchange privileges, even if the
      investor has not exceeded the three-per-quarter/five-per-year limits
      described above. In considering whether trading activity may be materially
      detrimental to the interests of long-term shareholders, the Funds consider
      a number of factors such as the frequency of trading by the investor, the
      amount involved in the investor's trades, and the length of time the
      investment is held, along with other factors.

      The Evergreen funds attempt to enforce the foregoing trading restrictions
      by monitoring purchases, sales and exchanges on a daily basis. However,
      there are certain limitations on the Funds' ability to detect and prevent
      trading that would violate these restrictions. For example, while the
      Funds have access to trading information relating to investors who trade
      and hold their shares directly with the Funds, the Funds may not have
      access to such information for investors who trade through financial
      intermediaries such as broker/dealers and financial advisors or through
      retirement plans. Certain financial intermediaries and retirement plans
      hold their shares or those of their clients through omnibus accounts
      maintained with the Funds. In the case of omnibus accounts, the Funds do
      not have access to information regarding trading activity by individual
      investors, and therefore are unable to monitor for excessive short-term
      trading or violations of the Funds' trading restrictions. For these and
      other reasons, it is possible that excessive short-term trading or trading
      in violation of the Funds' trading restrictions may occur despite the
      Funds' efforts to prevent them.


II.      Evergreen Adjustable Rate Fund, Evergreen Core Bond Fund, Evergreen
         Diversified Bond Fund, Evergreen Fixed Income Fund II, Evergreen
         Institutional Mortgage Portfolio, Evergreen Institutional U.S.
         Government Money Market Fund, Evergreen Limited Duration Fund,
         Evergreen Short Intermediate Bond Fund, Evergreen Strategic Income
         Fund, Evergreen Ultra Short Bond Fund, Evergreen U.S. Government Fund,
         Evergreen U.S. Government Money Market Fund, Evergreen VA Core Bond
         Fund, Evergreen VA Foundation Fund, Evergreen VA High Income Fund and
         Evergreen VA Strategic Income Fund (the "Funds")

         The section of the prospectus  entitled  "INVESTMENT  STRATEGY" for the
Funds is revised to include the following:

      The Fund typically invests in debt instruments issued and/or guaranteed by
      the U.S. government, its agencies, or instrumentalities, including
      mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, and collateralized
      mortgage obligations (CMOs) issued by the Government National Mortgage
      Association (GNMA), the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) and
      the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC). Securities issued by
      GNMA, but not those issued by FNMA or FHLMC, are backed by the full faith
      and credit of the U.S. government. Securities issued by FNMA or FHLMC,
      although chartered or sponsored by Congress, are not funded by
      Congressional appropriations and the securities issued by them are neither
      guaranteed nor insured by the United States government. In general,
      securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities are neither
      insured nor guaranteed by the United States Treasury.


III.     Evergreen Emerging Growth Fund and Evergreen Select Strategic Growth
         Fund

         Effective March 1, 2004,  Evergreen  Emerging Growth Fund and Evergreen
Select Strategic Growth Fund will change their names. The new names are:

- -------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
Current Name                                 New Name
- -------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
- -------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
Evergreen Emerging Growth Fund               Evergreen Mid Cap Growth Fund
- -------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
- -------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
Evergreen Select Strategic Growth Fund       Evergreen Strategic Growth Fund
- -------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------

         Also effective March 1, 2004, the "INVESTMENT  STRATEGY" section in the
prospectus for Evergreen Emerging Growth Fund (the "Fund") is revised to reflect
the fact  that the Fund  will  invest  primarily  in the  common  stocks of U.S.
companies  with medium  market  capitalizations  (i.e.,  companies  whose market
capitalizations  fall  within  the  range  of  market   capitalizations  of  the
constituent companies in the Russell Midcap(R) Index, at the time of purchase).

         The Fund Facts  section for the Fund in the  prospectus is also revised
to reflect  the same  change - under  `Principal  Investment,'  it will now read
"Mid-Cap U.S. Common Stocks."



February 27, 2004                                            568424  (2/04)