Final Days to Nominate Volunteers for Seattle's 6th Annual Cox Conserves Heroes Awards Program

SEATTLE, May 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KIRO 7, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land, is accepting nominations for Seattle'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 and Kiro7.com through 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT on May 22^nd.   

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 Seattle'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.

Seattle's Cox Conserves Heroes Timeline:

• Nominations:  April 17 – May 22^nd.
• Voting:  July - August
• Winner Announcement: Late August

Mike Town, Gary Colley, Jan Holmes, Laura James, and Helen Hoenig are previous recipients of Seattle's Cox Conserves Heroes award. 

As either a finalist or winner's nonprofit of choice, the following Washington organizations have received financial support from the Cox Conserves Heroes program: Carkeek Watershed Community Action Project, EarthCorps, Forest Fire Lookout Association – Western Washington, Greater Metro Parks Foundation, Green Tacoma Partnership, King Conservation District, Metro Parks of Tacoma, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, North Olympic Land Trust, Northwest Trek Foundation, Sustainable West Seattle, Washington Wilderness Coalition, Thornton Creek Restoration, Keep Island Lake Clean, Good Neighbor Garden Project, Fauntleroy Creek Restoration, Whidbey Camano Land Trust, Puget Creek Restoration Society, Plant Amnesty, King Conservation District and WSU Island County Beach Watchers.

Cox Conserves Heroes was created through a partnership between The Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises, the parent company of KIRO 7, 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, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Virginia 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 KIRO 7 and Cox Media Group
KIRO 7 is part of the Cox Media Group, 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, six daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications; and more than 100 digital sites and services, like Rare.us, Clark.com, Dawg Nation, SEC Country, Hookem.com, 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 more than 14 million radio listeners.  For more information about KIRO 7 and Cox Media Group, please check us out online at kiro7.com and 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 Enterprises