Ch. 2 WSB-TV and the Trust for Public Land Name Tom Branch as Atlanta’s 2015 Cox Conserves Hero

ATLANTA, November 18, 2015 /3BL Media/ — Channel 2 WSB-TV and The Trust for Public Land named Tom Branch as Atlanta’s 2015 Cox Conserves Hero. Branch’s nonprofit of choice, Park Pride, will receive $10,000 on his behalf. The three finalists were chosen by a judging panel and then competed in an online public vote to be named Atlanta’s Cox Conserves Hero.

Branch transformed an overgrown space into Frazier Rowe Park. He has coordinated hundreds of volunteers to create a trail system and lead a forest restoration. The workdays bring families together and help the community participate in intergenerational activities like hiking, gardening, bird watching and outdoor enjoyment. His work is teaching future generations about community service and the importance of the environment.

The two runners-up each receive $5,000 for their nonprofits of choice. Alan Toney selected Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, and Julie Burroughs chose Friends Group of Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Previous recipients of Atlanta’s Cox Conserves Heroes award are Bob Scott, John Gordon, Donna Shearer, Na'Taki Osborne-Jelks, Angel Poventud and Don Wells. Financial support from Cox Conserves Heroes has helped create community gardens, build trails, plant trees, provide environmental education, maintain parks, as well as create outdoor classrooms and certified wildlife habitats at area schools throughout Metro Atlanta.

Cox Conserves Heroes was created in 2008 through a partnership between The Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises, the parent company of Channel 2 WSB-TV. Through the national Cox Conserves Heroes program, more than $600,000 has been donated to environmental nonprofits and more than 150 volunteers have been honored. Cox Conserves Heroes also takes place in Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Virginia.

For more information, visit CoxConservesHeroes.com or Facebook.

Social Media: #CoxConservesHeroes and #CoxConservesHero

Media Contacts:

• Elizabeth Olmstead, Cox Enterprises, 678-645-0762, elizabeth.olmstead@coxinc.com 
• Kristen Anderson, The Trust for Public Land, 415-800-5178, kristen.anderson@tpl.org 

About Channel 2 WSB-TV 

The ABC Affiliate is part of Cox Media Group and ranks as Atlanta’s number one local television station. The station also operates its website, wsbtv.com, its mobile site, wap.wsbtv.com, and airs MeTV on its digital channel 2.2.

Cox Media Group (CMG) is 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, 59 radio stations, seven 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 print and online 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. 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. In Georgia, The Trust for Public Land has preserved land and created parks across the state since 1991. 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, Cox Automotive and Cox Media Group) and encourages Cox Enterprises' 55,000 employees and their families to engage in eco-friendly practices.

The company's sustainability goals are to send zero waste to landfill by 2024 and become carbon and water neutral by 2044. The company also presents the Cox Conserves Sustainability Survey, a nationwide survey that examines sustainability opportunities and challenges for small and medium-sized businesses.