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

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- KTVU Channel 2 and The Trust for Public Land today announced the finalists for the Bay Area's fourth annual Cox Conserves Heroes program.  A total of $15,000 will be donated to local environmental nonprofits on behalf of the finalists.

All three finalists receive a $2,500 donation for their nonprofit of choice. They are now competing for an additional $7,500 – bringing the total donation to $10,000 on behalf of the winner, who will be chosen through an online public vote.

Voting is open now through September 24 at ktvu.com/CoxConservesHeroes.

The Bay Area finalists and their environmental nonprofit of choice are:

• Charlie Bowen - Berkeley Path Wanderers Association
• Leora Feeney - Friends of Alameda Wildlife Refuge
• Betty Traynor - Friends of Boeddeker Park

The Bay Area's Cox Conserves Hero will be announced on October 11.

This is the fourth year the Cox Conserves Heroes program has taken place in the Bay Area. Naftali Moed, Bruce Beyaert and Lennie Roberts are previous recipients of the Bay Area's Cox Conserves Heroes award.  

As either a finalist's or winner's nonprofit of choice, the following Bay Area organizations have received financial support from the Cox Conserves Heroes program: Berkeley Partners for Parks; Committee for Green Foothills; Familyhood Connection; Northern Alameda County Group of the Sierra Club; Oakland Landscape Committee; Phat Beets Produce; Pie Ranch; Quesada Gardens Initiative; San Francisco Bay Trail Project and the World Stewardship Institute.

The Cox Conserves Heroes program was created through a partnership between The Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises, the parent company of KTVU Channel 2, to honor everyday conservationists. The program also runs in Arizona, Atlanta, Orange County (Calif.), San Diego, Santa Barbara, Seattle and Virginia. More than $225,000 has been donated to local nonprofits through the Cox Conserves Heroes program.

For more information, visit CoxConservesHeroes.com or find us on Facebook.

Social Media: #CoxConservesHeroes and #CoxConservesHero

About KTVU Channel 2:
Located in Oakland, Calif., KTVU Channel 2 serves the entire San Francisco Bay Area and is part of Cox Media Group and is a FOX affiliate.

Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of Cox Reps. Additionally, CMG owns and operates Valpak, one of North America's leading direct marketing companies.  With $1.7 billion in revenue, the company operations include 15 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 86 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services.  CMG operates in more than 30 media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including 30 million TV viewers, more than 4 million print and online newspaper readers, and 18 million radio listeners. 

About The Trust for Public Land
The Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and natural areas, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Since 1972, we have completed more than 5,200 park and conservation projects, conserved more than 3 million acres, and helped generate more than $34 billion in state and local conservation funding. www.tpl.org

About Cox Conserves
Launched in 2007, Cox Conserves is the company's national sustainability program that seeks to reduce Cox Enterprises' energy consumption by embracing alternative forms of energy, conserving natural resources and inspiring eco-friendly behavior. The program engages each of the company's major subsidiaries (Cox Communications, Manheim, Cox Media Group and AutoTrader.com) and encourages Cox Enterprises' 50,000 employees and their families to engage in eco-friendly practices.

At KTVU, alternative energy is generated through a fuel cell that powers nearly 70 percent of the main building. The station's energy-efficient HVAC system saves an estimated 325,595 kWh of energy per year, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 27 average-sized households. 

SOURCE KTVU Channel 2