Obama Gives Nobel Money To Charities

Last year, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Along with a medallion, the prize came with a financial award of $1.4 million. Understand, this was a prize awarded to Barack Obama as a person -- not a gift to the President of the United States.

Gifts given to the president are actually the property of the people of the United States, and must be left behind when the president vacates the White House. But the Nobel Prize was not given to the presidency, but to an individual for his own actions (and whether you think he deserved it or not is not relevant). The money was Obama's, to do whatever he wanted. He could have just stuck it in his bank account.

But Obama didn't do that. He showed what caring people that he and Michelle are, and they provided a role model for all Americans. He (and Michelle) have donated every penny of the Nobel Prize money to various charities. And the charities they chose are are good ones -- doing good work in areas that really can use the help. I have no doubt the money will be put to good use in making this world a better place.

Here are the 10 charities receiving the money:

– $250,000 to Fisher House, a group that helps provide housing for families of patients receiving medical care at military and Veterans Affairs medical centers;

– $200,000 for the Clinton-Bush Haiti fund, which supports relief efforts in the earthquake-ravaged nation;

– $125,000 for the College Summit, which helps prepare students for college;

– $125,000 for the United Negro College Fund, which helps more than 60,000 students attend college annually;

– $125,000 to the Posse Foundation, which awards four-year full-tuition scholarships to students who, according to the White House, "may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes";

– $125,000 to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which has awarded scholarships to over 90,000 students over a 34-year history;

– $125,000 to the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, which supports higher education opportunities for students from Appalachia;

– $125,000 to the American Indian College Fund, which provides over 6,000 scholarships annually to Native American students;

– $100,000 to AfriCare, which supports programs primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa dealing with health, food, and water resource development; and

– $100,000 to the Central Asia Institute, which backs education and literacy efforts for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan.