Cox and The Trust for Public Land Name Marilyn Hanson as Arizona’s 2015 Cox Conserves Hero

Tucson, AZ, Sept. 10, 2015 /3BL Media/ —  Cox Communications and The Trust for Public Land today named Marilyn Hanson as Arizona’s 2015 Cox Conserves Hero. Hanson’s nonprofit of choice, Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center, will receive $10,000 on her behalf. The three finalists were chosen by a judging panel and then competed in an online public vote to be named Arizona’s Cox Conserves Hero.

Marilyn Hanson retired from teaching in 1999 and turned her energy into caring for her adopted home in Southern Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. She is a docent at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, volunteer at the Arizona Native Plant Society and a volunteer lead for the Sonora Desert Weedwackers. Through her work, she is preserving the Sonoran Desert ecosystem and educating others of its importance. Her nonprofit of choice is the Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center.

The two runners-up each receive $5,000 for their nonprofits of choice. Mike Birrer selected Living Streets Alliance, and John Jordan chose Trout Unlimited Arizona State Council.

Tucson’s Brad Lancaster, Scottsdale’s Melinda Gulick, and Phoenix’s Greg Clark are previous recipients of Arizona’s Cox Conserves Heroes award. 

As either a finalist or winner’s nonprofit of choice, the following Arizona organizations have also received financial support from the Cox Conserves Heroes program: Arizona Native Plant Society, Desert Harvesters, McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, Mission Garden, Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center, Phoenix Mountains Preservation, Tigermountain Foundation and Wild At Heart.

Through the overall Cox Conserves Heroes program, nearly $550,000 has been donated to environmental nonprofits and nearly 150 volunteers have been honored. Cox Conserves Heroes also takes place in California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Virginia.

For more information, visit CoxConservesHeroes.com or Facebook.

Social Media: #CoxConservesHeroes and #CoxConservesHero

Media Contacts:
Andrea Katsenes, Cox Communications, 623-328-3272, Andrea.Katsenes@cox.com
Jami Buck-Vance, Cox Enterprises, 678-645-0074, jami.buck-vance@coxinc.com
Kristen Anderson, The Trust for Public Land, 415-495-4014, kristen.anderson@tpl.org

About Cox Communications:
Cox Communications is the third largest cable provider and a multi-service broadband communications company serving nearly 3 million residential and business product subscribers in Arizona (a product subscriber represents an individual service purchased by a customer). In metro Phoenix, Cox serves approximately 2.5 million product subscribers. In Southern Arizona, Cox serves approximately 400,000 product subscribers. Cox’s 24,000-mile hybrid fiber coaxial cable network throughout Phoenix and Southern Arizona provides homes and businesses with digital television, high speed Internet, home networking, high-definition television and digital telephone service over its own nationwide IP network. Cox is the third largest private for-profit employer in Arizona.  During the past nine years, Cox has topped numerous J.D. Power and Associates’ studies of customer satisfaction, most recently receiving top honors for residential telephone & high speed Internet, and business data services and has received PC Magazine’s “people’s choice” award for the sixth time. Additionally, Cox High Speed Internet has been ranked #1 for the past seven years on the “Ranking Arizona-Best of Arizona Business” list. Cox Media is responsible for the sale of cable advertising throughout Arizona. Cox Communications is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc and serves approximately 6 million customers nationwide. Additional information about Cox in Arizona is available at www.cox.com/arizona.

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. 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' 50,000 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.