WASHINGTON (March 11, 2010) – President Obama last week announced the charities that will receive a portion of the $1.4 million award that comes with the Nobel peace prize. The gifts include $100,000 to the Central Asia Institute, which promotes and supports community-based education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.The Institute’s co-founder, Greg Mortenson, was also a Nobel Peace Prize nominee this year, whose book, Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace, One School at a Time, recounts his attempt to successfully establish dozens of schools and promote girls’ education in rural Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The list of also includes Fisher House, a national non-profit organization that provides housing for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers; the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund; the College Summit, the Posse Foundation; United Negro College Fund; Hispanic Scholarship Fund; Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation; American Indian College Fund; AfriCare.
“These organizations do extraordinary work in the United States and abroad helping students, veterans and countless others in need,” said President Obama. “I’m proud to support their work.”
