Amscot Financial Contributes Mini-grants to 13 Non-profit Service Organizations

TAMPA, Fla., June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Amscot Financial, a leading provider of convenient, consumer-oriented financial services, has made mini-grants of $100 to $500 to 12 non-profit service organizations in its 15-county service area. The grants went to:

• Ebony Scholars Academic Club, St. Petersburg. This organization works to foster an educational environment in which minority students can pursue academic excellence in south St. Petersburg.  The organization was founded in 1992 and serves more than 75 young people annually.

• Kids with a Call, Inc., Tampa. An artistically driven summer youth camp, this group serves children aged five to 15 in the Tampa Bay region. Children participate in enrichment activities in music, chorus, theater and martial arts. Curriculum lessons are designed to promote teamwork, patriotism and enhance cultural understanding.  

• Kids House of Seminole, Inc., Sanford. Founded in 2000, this non-profit service provider serves as the single point of contact for child abuse investigations in Florida. Every year, more that 2,500 children rely on the organization's child-friendly facility to provide forensic interviewing and medical examinations, crisis intervention, advocacy and referral services as well as mental health therapy.

• Advantage Village Academy, St., Petersburg. This non-profit organization was founded in 2009 to promote self sufficiency, financial stability and economic development. In addition, the academy is committed to providing supervision and guidance to disadvantaged youth in the community.

• Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler, Inc., Daytona Beach. Two programs offered by the Jewish Federation serve families in need. One is a food pantry that, over the past 12 months, has provided more than 14,000 families with a week's worth of food. The second is a backpack program for students at seven area schools. The federation provides a limited number of backpacks for students and stuffs the backpacks with school supplies.

• Neptune Elementary School, St. Cloud. The school recently purchased a sun-shade structure for the children's playground.

• Youth with Clarity Foundation, Tampa. The foundation is organizing a walk-a-thon in the coming weeks that will focus community attention on the topic of childhood obesity.

• Financial Aid Solutions, Inc., Tampa. This organization targets high schools students and their families who believe that college may not be an option due to their financial situation. The group provides knowledge and assistance to any student who wants to continue his or her education.

• Advocates for Safer Communities, Inc., Riverview. This non-profit service group serves youth up to the age of 19 through lectures, presentations and community events that focus on intervening in the lives of young people, offering them alternatives to committing crime.

• Matrix Foundation, Tampa. This group works with students diagnosed with behavioral issues as they make the transition from alternative schools back to public schools.    

• Banyan Tree Project, Inc., St. Petersburg.  This organization works with adult males who are in recovery support and in need of transitional housing.

• Lake Wales Charter School, Lake Wales. The school is organizing a "school readiness event in August in which students will be provided immunizations and basic physical examination as well as backpacks and school supplies. Last year, the school provided immunizations to 266 children.

• Buenaventura Lakes Little League, Kissimmee. This non-profit organization serves more than 600 young people per year with both spring and fall baseball leagues.

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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.

SOURCE Amscot Financial