Cox Enterprises and the Trust for Public Land announced that voting for the 2018 National Cox Conserves Hero is now open until Oct. 15. One national winner will be picked from eight regional winners nominated by their local communities and will receive $50,000 to donate to his or her environmental nonprofit of choice. Rogard Ross, founder of Friends of Indian River, is representing Virginia in the national contest.
Ross was selected as Virginia’s Cox Conserves Hero for his passion for the environment and the wide scope of his volunteer work. Along with serving as a board member and volunteer coordinator for Friends of Indian River, he is actively involved with a number of community programs.
Founded in 2012, Friends of Indian River has a core of dedicated volunteers and strong community partnerships. The goal of the organization is to improve the quality of life for all residents of the Indian River neighborhoods by encouraging sustainable gardening and landscaping and by preserving a healthy and clean river, shorelines, parks and green spaces.
The Cox Conserves Heroes program is celebrating 10 years of recognizing community members who work tirelessly to create, preserve or enhance outdoor spaces. Winners at the regional level received $10,000 to donate to their nonprofit of choice. Selected by a judging panel within their communities, these local winners are now finalists for the national competition.
Visit CoxConservesHeroes.com to vote for Rogard Ross. Voting is open to the public, regardless of location.
