Cox and The Trust for Public Land Launch Arizona's 5th Annual Cox Conserves Heroes Awards Program

Cox honoring environmental volunteers in Phoenix and Southern Arizona; $20,000 to be awarded to local environmental nonprofits

PHOENIX, April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Communications, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land, is seeking nominations for Arizona's 5^th annual Cox Conserves Heroes awards program. A total of $20,000 will be donated to local environmental nonprofits on behalf of the winner and finalists.

Nominations are being accepted through 5 p.m. MT on May 6^th at www.cox7.com/cox-conserves for volunteers in Phoenix and Southern Arizona who are creating, preserving or enhancing outdoor spaces.

A judging panel comprised of civic and environmental leaders will select three finalists who will then compete to be named Arizona's 2016 Cox Conserves Hero. The winner, chosen through an online public vote, will receive $10,000 to donate to his or her selected nonprofit beneficiary. The two finalists each will receive $5,000 for their nonprofits of choice.

Nominee activities must be performed on a volunteer basis and may not be part of an individual's employment.

Arizona's 2016 Cox Conserves Heroes Timeline:

• Nominations: Now – May 6^th
• Voting: June 20^th – July 20^th
• Winner Announcement: August

Arizona's Cox Conserves Heroes program is sponsored locally by Bruce Munro: Sonoran Light at Desert Botanical Garden, which is being offered every night through May 8^th. Southern Arizona's Marilyn Hanson, Scottsdale's Melinda Gulick, Tucson's Brad Lancaster and Phoenix's Greg Clark are previous recipients of Arizona's Cox Conserves Heroes award. 

As either a finalist or winner's nonprofit of choice, the following Arizona organizations have received financial support from the Cox Conserves Heroes program: Arizona Native Plant Society, Desert Harvesters, Living Streets Alliance, McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, Mission Garden, Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center, Phoenix Mountains Preservation, Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center, Tigermountain Foundation, Trout Unlimited Arizona State Council and Wild At Heart.

The Cox Conserves Heroes program was created through a partnership between The Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises, the parent company of Cox Communications. Cox Conserves Heroes also takes place in Calif., Ga., Fla., La., Mass. and Va. Through the national Cox Conserves Heroes program, more than $600,000 has been donated to environmental nonprofits and more than 150 volunteers have been honored.

For more information, visit CoxConservesHeroes.com or Facebook.

Social Media: #CoxConservesHeroes and #CoxConservesHero

About Cox Communications:
Cox Communications is the third largest cable provider and a multi-service broadband communications company serving nearly 3 million residential and business product subscribers in Arizona (a product subscriber represents an individual service purchased by a customer). In the metro Phoenix, Cox serves approximately 2.5 million product subscribers. In Southern Arizona, Cox serves approximately 400,000 product subscribers. Cox's 18,000-mile hybrid fiber coaxial cable network throughout Phoenix and Southern Arizona provides homes and businesses with digital television, high speed Internet, home networking, high-definition television and digital telephone service over its own nationwide IP network. During the past four years, Cox has topped 10 J.D. Power and Associates' studies of customer satisfaction. Cox Media is responsible for the sale of cable advertising throughout Arizona. Cox Communications is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc and serves approximately 6 million customers nationwide and wholly owns and operates the Travel Channel. Additional information about Cox in Arizona is available at www.cox.com/arizona.

About The Trust for Public Land:
The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come.  Millions of people live within a one-half mile walk of a Trust for Public Land park, garden, or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every year.  To support The Trust for Public Land and share why nature matters to you, visit http://www.tpl.org.

About Cox Conserves:
Launched in 2007 by Chairman Jim Kennedy, Cox Conserves is Cox Enterprises' national sustainability program. Cox Conserves focuses on reducing waste and energy consumption, as well as conserving water. The program engages each of the company's major subsidiaries (Cox Communications, Cox Automotive and Cox Media Group) and encourages Cox Enterprises' 55,000 employees and their families to engage in eco-friendly practices.

SOURCE Cox Communications

For further information: Andrea Katsenes, Cox Communications, 623-328-3272, Andrea.Katsenes@cox.com, or Elizabeth Olmstead, Cox Enterprises, 678-645-0762, elizabeth.olmstead@coxinc.com, or Kristen Anderson, The Trust for Public Land, 415-495-4014, kristen.anderson@tpl.org