KIRO 7 and The Trust for Public Land Announce Finalists for Western Washington's Cox Conserves Heroes Program

Public asked to vote; program to donate $20,000 to local environmental nonprofits

SEATTLE, July 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- KIRO 7, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land, today announced finalists for Western Washington's 2016 Cox Conserves Heroes program. The public is being asked to vote now through August 19 at http://www.kiro7.com/heroes.

A total of $20,000 will be donated to local environmental nonprofits on behalf of the three finalists. Western Washington's 2016 finalists and their nonprofits of choice are:

• Bill Hagen, Carkeek Watershed Community Action Project
• Kortney Okura, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust
• Helen Hoenig, Connecting Kids to Nature Program, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust

Finalists have already secured a $5,000 donation for their nonprofits of choice, and are now competing for an additional $5,000 – bringing the total award to $10,000 for the winner's nonprofit of choice. The winner will be chosen through an online public vote.

As either a finalist or winner's nonprofit of choice, the following Washington organizations have received financial support from the Cox Conserves Heroes program: EarthCorps, Forest Fire, Lookout Association – Western Washington, Greater Metro Parks Foundation, Green Tacoma Partnership, King Conservation District, Metro Parks of Tacoma, North Olympic Land Trust, Northwest Trek Foundation, Sustainable West Seattle, Washington Wilderness Coalition and WSU Island County Beach Watchers.

The Cox Conserves Heroes program was created through a partnership between The Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises, the parent company of KIRO 7. Through the overall Cox Conserves Heroes program, more than $650,000 has been donated to environmental nonprofits and more than 150 volunteers have been honored. The program also takes place in Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Virginia.

About KIRO 7:
KIRO 7 is part of Cox Media Group, an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of CoxReps. Additionally, CMG owns Cox Target Media, which operates Valpak, one of North America's leading direct marketing companies, and Savings.com, a leading online source for savings. The company's operations currently include 14 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 60 radio stations, six daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services. CMG currently operates in more than 20 media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including more than 31 million TV viewers, more than 3.5 million newspaper readers, and more than 14 million radio listeners. For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com.

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.

Social Media: #CoxConservesHeroes and #CoxConservesHero

SOURCE KIRO 7

For further information: KIRO 7: Jill Wiggins, jwiggins@kiro7.com; Cox Enterprises: Elizabeth Olmstead, elizabeth.olmstead@coxinc.com; The Trust for Public Land: Kristen Anderson, 415-495-4014, kristen.anderson@tpl.org