BATON ROUGE - With nearly $700 million in unclaimed property sitting in the Louisiana treasury, residents of the Capital Area can take advantage of an upcoming Unclaimed Property Awareness Day event at the Mall of Louisiana to see if any of that money belongs to them.

Treasury employees will be stationed at the 1st Floor Center Court at the mall, located at 6401 Bluebonnet Blvd in Baton Rouge from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. this coming Saturday, Aug. 22.

"We've now collected more than $1 billion in Unclaimed Property. As quickly as we return it, we get more in," State Treasurer John Kennedy said. "Come see us at the mall. We'll help you search, and we'll help you file a claim on the spot. It's a free service."

Individuals looking to attend the event should bring a valid photo ID and Social Security card in order to speed up processing their claims.

The Treasurer's Office says the average claim is $900, and the money usually comes from old savings and checking accounts, payroll checks, CDs, stocks and dividends, insurance proceeds, oil and gas royalty payments, utility deposits and similar funds. Checks for all approved claims will be issued and mailed as quickly as possible after the event, according to the Treasurer's Office.

Since the Unclaimed Property Program was started in 1972, the program has returned more than $373 million to nearly 600,000 Louisianians.

To check if you have missing money available ahead of the event, check the Treasurer's Office online database at www.LATreasury.com or call the LA Treasury's toll-free hotline at (888) 925-4127.