BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – It was announced by West Virginia State Treasurer, Riley Moore on Wednesday that the Treasurer’s Office Unclaimed Property Division returned a check worth nearly $23,000 to the Beckley Area Foundation in Raleigh County.
The check, valued at $22,993.48 total, comprised an endowment fund from an estate which had been turned over the Treasurer’s Office’s Unclaimed Property Division.
“The Beckley Area Foundation is one of West Virginia’s larges nonprofits, and I am proud my office was able to return this large sum of money back to the foundation,” said Treasurer Moore. “While we have been partnering with community groups across the state, I want to encourage individuals and other organizations to keep checking our unclaimed property database because you never know if there may be unclaimed funds in your name.”
The fund in question was established by sisters Freda and Sula Soter to honor the memory of their parents. Their parents were ethnic Greeks who had been born and raised in the seaside village of Katirli, Turkey, roughly an hour west of Istanbul by boat.
Following the loss by Greece of the Greco-Turkish war in the early 1920s, the two left their homes in Turkey to relocate to Greece. Mr. Soter would later immigrate to the United States of America, returning to Greece eventually to bring back his bride to be. The Soters were reportedly quite active in contributing to the community after officially becoming American citizens.
“We were surprised to learn that we would receive over $22,000 in unclaimed property from the State Treasurer’s Office,” said Chief Financial Officer for Beckley Area Foundation, Rebecca Williams. “We will place this money in the Athas and Helen Soter (Athanasios and Eleni Karakasis Soteracopoulos) Memorial Fund as Freda Soter directed in her will. This money will grow and provide a permanent income stream for the YMCA of Southern WV, Raleigh County Library, and the Beckley Concert Association. We are grateful for the State’s assistance in getting this money to us to fulfill our donor’s wishes.”
