The attentive work of two unpaid interns literally paid off for Haskell Indian Nations University.

The university received checks for nearly $4,900 Wednesday from state Treasurer Ron Estes after Haskell students Abigail Jones and Paulette Blanchard — interns for state Rep. Ponka-We Victors, D-Wichita — had discovered the state’s unclaimed property fund included money due to Haskell.

The interns made the discovery during a tour of the treasurer’s office, and Estes was happy to return the money.

Haskell officials were more than happy to accept it.

“This is something we weren’t aware of,” said Stephen Prue, who works in the president’s office. “It was a little windfall for us. It’s about $5,000 we didn’t have yesterday.”

The money — a compilation of deposits Haskell had put down on equipment and other items but had not collected upon — goes into the general fund to finance school operations, Prue said.

The treasurer’s office has more than $220 million worth of unclaimed property waiting to be returned to property owners. Anyone can search for unclaimed property at KansasCash.com or by calling the treasurer’s office at 800-432-0386.

“Our budget office will keep an eye on that now,” Prue said.