When Lowndes Community Foundation Treasurer and Co-Founder Jim Davidson found out last year the organization had unclaimed stocks in Walmart, he was surprised.
He had no idea the more than 735 stock shares given to the foundation decades ago, like other lost financial assets, sat collecting value while waiting to be discovered and awarded back to the organization.
“It was exciting,” Davidson said. “… Over the years, Walmart (has) really boomed … and so when we found out it was going to be close to $85,000, $90,000, that was just like Christmas in January.”
Sunday was National Unclaimed Property Day, which aims to bring awareness to financial assets like utility deposits, uncashed checks or bank accounts that are lost and unable to be given back to their rightful owners for any number of reasons. In Mississippi those lost financial assets are transferred to the State Treasury of Mississippi after five years, the office is then tasked with finding the owners of the unclaimed money or property, the state treasurer’s website said.
Davidson said the stocks were given to the Lowndes County Foundation by Bill McClure, owner of McClure Furniture, around 1993 when the organization was incorporated, to help fund initial efforts.
“We didn’t know what to do with it,” Davidson said. “… And over the years, we just forgot about it. We didn’t get a certificate, we didn’t get any notice from Walmart. Nothing transpired.”
Those stocks were also difficult to trace back to the organization, Davidson said, because it had changed office locations several times over the years.
“We had no money, no endowment and no executive director for a long time, and that’s changed dramatically,” Davidson said. “… But our addresses were varying. We elected a president, and he had one address, and then the Chamber of Commerce was handling all this for us. … Nobody had any way to trace where we were. Basically it was non-existent.”
Across the country, about $70 billion sits in unclaimed money databases. Since starting its unclaimed money program in 1982, Mississippi has returned $300 million to residents, State Treasurer David McRae said in an October press release.
“About one in seven people have unclaimed money, which means there’s a good chance some of it is in your name,” McRae wrote in an email to the Dispatch. “For individuals, that money can ease real financial pressure. For the state, returning it acts as a powerful economic boost. Not only does it put the cash back into the hands of its rightful owner, but every dollar we return circulates about seven times. This benefits the recipient, as well as their community.”
The roughly $90,000 the foundation received is currently sitting in its general fund, but is expected to be earmarked for projects that improve the quality of life for the community, Davidson said.
Since 2003, the Lowndes County Foundation, an affiliate of CREATE Foundation in Tupelo, has reinvested more than $241,000 in grants for local projects, including FORGE’s Career Expo, a youth recreation center at Columbus Air Force Base and renovations at the YMCA, the foundation’s website said.
Davidson said he expects the board to decide next spring how to use the money when it selects a new slate of applicants for grant funding.
“I think that we like to do these grants, and we see the effect of them and how important they are to so many people here that that’s probably what we’ll continue to do,” Davidson said.
Mississippians can search and claim their missing property at treasury.ms.gov/search.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
