Amscot Financial Launches 6th Annual ‘just A Dollar’ Campaign To Support Local Education Foundations

Community

Over the past five years, Amscot customers and the company have combined to raise close to $400,000 for local education foundations in the counties that Amscot serves.

Tampa, FL – (July 27, 2011) –Amscot Financial, a leading provider of convenient, consumer-oriented financial services, announces the launch of the sixth annual “Just a Dollar” campaign, designed to raise funds for local education foundations in the 15 Central Florida counties where Amscot has branches.

Beginning Monday, August 1, and continuing throughout the month of August, Amscot Financial associates will ask each customer if they would like to voluntarily contribute a dollar to their local education foundation. Amscot will track each contribution by county and ensure that it is donated directly in September to the education foundation serving the county in which the branch is located. Amscot will match the overall contributions up to the first $10,000.

Including customer contributions and Amscot matches to date, here is a rundown of the Just-a-Dollar campaign’s results: 

  • 2006:   $59,252
  • 2007:   $53,000
  • 2008:   $80,947
  • 2009:   $89,113
  • 2010:   $116,807

    Total: $399,119

Funds raised by county-based educational foundations are used to support reading and scholarship programs, said Mary Chance, executive director of the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations.

“Education foundations in Florida are non-profit organizations that serve as a conduit for private sector investment in education. They focus their fund-raising efforts on programs that are not supported by tax dollars,” Chance said.

Chance credits Amscot for continuing to make a commitment to local education foundations.  “They have come forward with the idea of encouraging everyone to invest a little in education in their community. It’s an outstanding way to generate more investment in our local schools.”

In June 2009, CFEF recognized Amscot Financial as its “Outstanding Partner of the Year.”

Ian MacKechnie, founder and CEO of Amscot Financial, said: “We are big believers in doing what we can to build up our community, and we think our customers want to do their part as well. If we can get a lot of people contributing just a dollar, it can have a huge impact on our schools.”

Founded in 1989, Amscot Financial employs more than 2,000 associates who work at the company’s 174 retail branches and at the company’s corporate headquarters in Tampa.

Amscot Financial’s service centers are open seven days a week and are typically open Mondays through Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday hours are typically from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Select Amscot locations are open 24 hours a day. The company currently operates retail locations in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Polk, Hardee, Highlands, Manatee, Sarasota, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Volusia and Brevard counties.

About Amscot Financial
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., Amscot Financial is a leading provider of income tax preparation and electronic filing services, refund anticipation loans, prepaid debit cards, check cashing services, cash advance services, bill payment services, money transfer services and money orders through its wholly owned division, Amscot International Money Order Company.  Amscot also offers the Amscot Card, a pre-paid debit card that allows owners to make purchases from any location that accepts MasterCard™. Amscot Financial currently operates 174 tax preparation offices and 174 retail financial service centers throughout Florida and employs more than 2,000 people. Amscot Financial has been recognized by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as one of Tampa Bay’s Best Places to Work for four consecutive years. For additional information, please visit the company’s Web site at www.amscot.com.

For more information, please contact:
Joe Kilsheimer, Public Relations, at (407) 880-2512 or