Finalists Named for Arizona's Cox Conserves Heroes Program, Public Asked to Vote

Program to donate $15,000 to environmental nonprofits in Arizona

PHOENIX, July 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Communications and The Trust for Public Land, sponsored locally by Goodwill of Central Arizona, today announced finalists for Arizona's 2014 Cox Conserves Heroes program. A total of $15,000 will be donated to local environmental nonprofits on behalf of the winner and finalists.

By being a finalist, each individual has secured a $2,500 donation for his nonprofit of choice. The finalists are now competing for an additional $7,500 – bringing the total donation on behalf of the winner to $10,000. The winner will be chosen through an online public vote.

The public is being asked to vote now through August 7^th at www.cox7.com/cox-conserves.

Arizona's 2014 Cox Conserves Heroes Finalists

Cass Blodgett is a volunteer citizen scientist on the North Mountain Plant Inventory Project. He collects and documents North Mountain's diversity of flora, teaches the public about native flora and leads interpretative hikes. His commitment to documenting the area's biological diversity helps spread plant knowledge with the community. His environmental nonprofit of choice is Arizona Native Plant Society.

As a volunteer, Darren Chapman raised funds to create 16 acres of community gardens that were previously vacant lots used by gangs. By selling the produce at local farmers markets, he is able to employ at-risk teens to cultivate the gardens. He also hosts garden demonstrations and social events twice a month for the local community. His environmental nonprofit of choice is Tigermountain Foundation.

Greg Clark uses his engineering expertise to save the area's burrowing owls that nest underground. The burrows are often crushed by heavy equipment, so he has led hundreds of volunteers in a movement to create artificial burrows. More than 500 displaced owls have successfully been relocated. His environmental nonprofit of choice is Wild At Heart.

Sponsored locally by Goodwill of Central Arizona, Arizona's 2014 Cox Conserves Hero will be announced in mid-August.

Melinda Gulick from Scottsdale and Brad Lancaster from Tucson are previous recipients of Arizona's Cox Conserves Heroes award.

Cox Conserves Heroes was created in partnership through The Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises, the parent company of Cox Communications, to honor environmental volunteers who are creating or preserving outdoor spaces. Funds are donated on behalf of the finalists and winners to their local environmental nonprofits of choice. Through the Cox Conserves Heroes program, nearly $400,000 has been donated to environmental nonprofits and more than 130 volunteers have been recognized.

Cox Conserves Heroes takes place in Arizona (Phoenix and Tucson); California (Orange County, San Diego and Santa Barbara); Georgia (Atlanta); Louisiana (Acadiana, Baton Rouge and New Orleans); Virginia (Fairfax County/Fredericksburg, Hampton Roads and Roanoke) and Washington (Seattle).

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 18,500-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 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, Manheim, Cox Media Group and AutoTrader Group) and encourages Cox Enterprises' 50,000 employees and their families to engage in eco-friendly practices.

About Goodwill of Central Arizona:
With 65 years of serving central Arizona's communities, Goodwill of Central Arizona is one of the oldest and largest nonprofit agencies in Arizona. Our Commitment is to Put People to Work throughout Arizona by providing job training and employment services to those with vocational disadvantages and disabilities that can include mental and emotional barriers, physical disabilities, welfare dependency, illiteracy and age. In 2013, we served more than 59,607 youth and adults on their quest toward self-sufficiency and secured more than 23,506 employment opportunities. For more information on Goodwill of Central Arizona, visit www.goodwillaz.org.

SOURCE Cox Communications

For further information: Andrea Katsenes, Cox Communications, 623-328-3272, Andrea.Katsenes@cox.com; Elizabeth Olmstead, Cox Enterprises, 678-645-0762, elizabeth.olmstead@coxinc.com; Kristen Anderson, The Trust for Public Land, 415-495-4014, kristen.anderson@tpl.org; Summer Dunham, Goodwill of Central Arizona, 602-535-4037, summer.dunham@goodwillaz.org