Amscot Financial to launch 8th annual 'Just a Dollar' campaign in support of local education foundations

TAMPA, Fla., July 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Amscot Financial, a leading provider of convenient, consumer-oriented financial services, announces the launch of its eighth annual "Just a Dollar" campaign, designed to raise funds for local education foundations in the 19 Florida counties where Amscot has branches. The 2013 campaign expands this year to include Miami-Dade, Broward, Flagler and Marion counties, where Amscot has recently opened new branches.

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Beginning Thursday, 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 conveyed directly in September to the education foundation serving the county in which the donation is made. Amscot will match the overall contributions up to the first $10,000.

Including customer contributions and Amscot matches over the past seven years, more than $718,000 has been distributed to local education foundations via the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (CFEF), a Gainesville-based umbrella organization.

Funds raised on behalf of Florida's county-based educational foundations are used to support reading and scholarship programs, said Mary Chance, CFEF executive director.

"Amscot has proven to be a significant partner for many our local education foundations around the state of Florida," Chance said. "Education foundations in Florida are non-profit organizations that serve as a conduit for private sector investment in education. Our foundations focus their fund-raising efforts on programs that are not supported by tax dollars."

Chance credits Amscot for making a continuing commitment to local education foundations.  "Year after year, Amscot encourages everyone to invest a little in education in their community. It's an outstanding way to generate more investment in our local schools."

Ian MacKechnie, founder and CEO of Amscot Financial, said: "In many ways, Amscot's Just-a-Dollar campaign resembles the phenomenon of crowd-sourcing, which many organizations are employing these days to raise funds for new investment. It demonstrates the power of one. One individual giving one dollar – and repeated over and over again with the thousands of customers we see every day – makes possible to create a tremendous impact on behalf of schoolchildren throughout the state of Florida."

Founded in 1989, Amscot Financial employs more than 2,000 associates who work at the company's 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, Brevard, Marion, Flagler, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

About Amscot Financial

Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., Amscot Financial is a leading provider of convenient, consumer-oriented financial services, including check cashing, bill payment, money transfers, cash advances 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 enables owners to make purchases from any location that accepts MasterCard™. Amscot Financial currently operates more than 200 retail financial service centers throughout Florida and employs more than 2,000 employees. Amscot Financial has been recognized by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as one of Tampa Bay's Best Places to Work for five years. For additional information, please visit the company's website at www.amscot.com.

SOURCE Amscot Financial