WFTV and The Trust for Public Land Seeking Nominations for Central Florida's 2017 Cox Conserves Heroes Program

Call for nominations; $20,000 to be donated to local environmental nonprofits

ORLANDO, Fla., June 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- WFTV Channel 9, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land, today launched Central Florida's 2017 Cox Conserves Heroes program to honor local environmental volunteers.

Nominations for volunteers who are creating, preserving or enhancing outdoor spaces are being accepted at CoxConservesHeroes.com through 5 p.m. EST on July 10.

The program is seeking volunteers in the following counties: Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia.

Eligibility Criteria

• Nominee's activity creates, protects and/or beautifies an outdoor community space; 
• Nominee's activity is done on a volunteer basis and is not part of his or her paid employment;
• Nominee's activity inspires others to engage in community conservation.

Local judging panels, comprised of civic and environmental leaders, will select three finalists who then compete to be named Central Florida's 2017 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.

Nonprofit of Choice Criteria

• The organization must be a public 501(c)(3).
• The organization's efforts must focus on environmental improvement.

Florida's Cox Conserves Heroes Timeline:

• Nominations:  June 15 – July 10
• Voting:  September
• Winner Announcement: October

Chuck O'Neal and Shanta Barton-Stubbs are previous recipients of Central Florida's Cox Conserves Heroes award. 

Cox Conserves Heroes was created through a partnership between The Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises, the parent company of WFTV, to honor local conservation volunteers. 

The national Cox Conserves Heroes program has donated nearly $800,000 to environmental nonprofits and nearly 200 volunteers have been honored. Cox Conserves Heroes also takes place in Arizona, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington and is part of the company's national Cox Conserves sustainability program that is celebrating its 10^th anniversary.

For more information, visit CoxConservesHeroes.com or Facebook.

Social Media: #CoxConservesHeroes and #CoxConservesHero

About Channel 9 WFTV
The ABC Affiliate is part of Cox Media Group and ranks as Central Florida's number one local television station. The station also operates its website, wftv.com.

About Cox Media Group
Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company. The company's operations currently include 14 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, more than 60 radio stations, seven daily newspapers and 11 non-daily publications; and more than 100 digital sites and services, like Rare.us, Clark.com, Dawg Nation, SEC Country, Hookem.com, Mundo Hispanico, Southern Kitchen and All22. Additionally, CMG operates the National Advertising Platform businesses of CoxReps - the country's biggest television rep firm - Gamut, and Videa. 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 nearly 15 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 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' 60,000 employees and their families to engage in eco-friendly practices.

SOURCE Cox Conserves

For further information: WFTV, Michelle Stevens, 407-822-5632, Michelle.Stevens@wftv.com; Cox Enterprises, Joanna Coker, 678-645-7318, joanna.coker@coxinc.com; The Trust for Public Land: Kristen Anderson, 415-495-4014, kristen.anderson@tpl.org