Final Days to Nominate Volunteers for Arizona's 4th 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, May 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Communications, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land, is seeking nominations for Arizona's fourth 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 18 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 2015 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 paid employment.

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, McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, Mission Garden, Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center, Phoenix Mountains Preservation, Tigermountain Foundation 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 California, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Virginia. Overall, nearly $500,000 has been donated to environmental nonprofits and more than 140 volunteers have been honored through the Cox Conserves Heroes program.

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 metro Phoenix, Cox serves approximately 2.5 million product subscribers. In Southern Arizona, Cox serves approximately 400,000 product subscribers. Cox's 24,000-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. Cox is the third largest private for-profit employer in Arizona.  During the past nine years, Cox has topped numerous J.D. Power and Associates' studies of customer satisfaction, most recently receiving top honors for residential telephone & high speed Internet, and business data services and has received PC Magazine's "people's choice" award for the sixth time. Additionally, Cox High Speed Internet has been ranked #1 for the past seven years on the "Ranking Arizona-Best of Arizona Business" list. 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. 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. Nearly ten million people live within a ten-minute walk of a Trust for Public Land park, garden, or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every year. Learn more at 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' 50,000 employees and their families to engage in eco-friendly practices.

The company's sustainability goals are to send zero waste to landfill by 2024 and become carbon and water neutral by 2044. The company also presents the Cox Conserves Sustainability Survey, a nationwide survey that examines sustainability opportunities and challenges for small and medium-sized businesses.

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