March 17, 2010

Obama Donates Portion of Nobel Prize Money to AIDS Relief

President Barack Obama said he will donate his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize winnings to programs helping students, veterans’ families, survivors of the earthquake in Haiti and people living with HIV/AIDS, The Associated Press reports.

According to the article, Obama will give $100,000 to AfriCare, which funds HIV/AIDS and public health programs, water resource development and agriculture in 25 sub-Saharan African countries.

The bulk of the prize money, $750,000, will go to six groups that help students attend college. Fisher House, which provides housing for families of those staying at Veterans Administration hospitals, will receive $250,000. The Clinton-Bush Haiti fund—former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton’s Haiti relief initiative—will receive $200,000. Obama will also give $100,000 to the Central Asia Institute, which promotes education for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“These organizations do extraordinary work in the United States and abroad helping students, veterans and countless others in need,” Obama said in a statement. “I’m proud to support their work.”

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SirEndure, Earth, 2010-03-18 16:42:17
Such gestures add up to little more than cause-ploitation. Before political scrutiny set in, Obama's family donated a relatively minor amount of its earnings to charity. From 2000 through 2004, the senator and his wife never gave more than $3,500 a year in charitable donations -- about 1 percent of their annual earnings. Most philanthropy from big money is nothing but charitable giving in order to shield their earnings from taxation. Remember to be vigilant and not to be misled by the media.