Treasurer Garrity returns $1,100 to Lyndora Legion Post 778
BUTLER TWP — Leroy Bunyan, American Legion Post 778 commander, thanked Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity on Thursday for returning an uncashed $1,100 check from 2021 that he said will be used to help veterans in need.
He said returning the check means even more because it was delivered by a fellow veteran.
Garrity, a two-term Republican treasurer and 30-year U.S. Army Reserve veteran who was deployed to Iraq three times before retiring as a colonel, returned the check from the $4.5 billion in unclaimed property the treasury is storing in a vault and wants to return to the rightful owners.
Returning the property, including 233,917 property items worth $27 million owed to county residents and hundreds of military decorations belonging to veterans and their families across the state, is an ongoing mission for Garrity.
“Only 1% of Americans choose to put on the uniform to protect our great nation and so I’m always very happy to be in the same room with fellow veterans,” Garrity said.
She said her service in the reserves was the honor of her life, and she would still be serving if it wasn’t for mandatory retirement.
“One of my priorities is returning unclaimed property, and at treasury we’re working to return more than $4.5 billion. Yes, that’s billion with ‘B’ dollars and more than $27 million is owed to people right here in Butler County,” Garrity said.
More than $3 million is owed to veterans organizations and first responders, she said.
“This $1,100 will go to help veterans,” Bunyan said.
Former post commander Bill McNutt, who died in January, found the check by searching the treasury website and filed a claim for the check, Bunyan said.
Since taking office, Garrity said she has returned more than $880 million in unclaimed property including a record of more than $500 million over two consecutive years.
More than one in 10 state residents is owed unclaimed property and the average claim is about $1,600, she said.
Unclaimed property includes dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten stocks and bonds, rebates, insurance policies and other property. State law requires businesses to report unclaimed property to the treasury after three years of dormancy, Garrity said.
Military decorations the treasury receives are never auctioned, she said. About 480 decorations remain in the vault, but 491 decorations, including 12 Purple Hearts, one Gold Star and three Bronze Stars, and military memorabilia have been returned.
Garrity said her office will never stop looking for the veterans who earned the decorations or their families.
“As a veteran myself, every one of these returns is very near and dear to my heart because I believe it’s a solemn duty and a way to show our gratitude to veterans and their families for their great sacrifices for the freedoms that we enjoy,” she said.
