President Obama Donates $125,000 of Nobel Prize Money to American Indian College Fund

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Mar 11, 2010, 07:35 ET

DENVER, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Obama announced today that he will donate $125,000 of his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize monies to the American Indian College Fund (the Fund). In a statement issued by the White House, Obama said of the Fund and nine other charity organizations that received donations from the president, "These organizations do extraordinary work in the United States and abroad helping students, veterans and countless others in need. I'm proud to support their work."

"We are thrilled that President Obama has chosen to publicly acknowledge the work the American Indian College Fund is doing in Indian Country by sharing $125,000 of his prestigious Nobel Peace Prize award with us," said Richard B. Williams, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund. "As a result of President Obama's vision and leadership, through his donation to the Fund along with nine other outstanding charities, he is setting an example for how all Americans can help those less fortunate. The gift will be used to support Native scholarships at America's 33 accredited tribal colleges and universities."

According to the White House Statement, these charities include Fisher House, which provides housing for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers; the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, which raises money for long-term relief efforts in Haiti after its earthquake; College Summit, which partners with elementary and middle schools and school districts to increase college enrollment and student preparation; the Posse Foundation, a scholarship organization which identifies public high school students with academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes; the United Negro College Fund, which helps 60,000 students yearly to attend college through scholarship and internship programs; the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the nation's leading Hispanic scholarship organization; the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, which supports and enables young Appalachians to pursue higher education though scholarship and leadership curriculum; AfriCare, which supports health and HIV/AIDS, food security and agriculture, and water resource development projects in 25 countries; and the Central Asia Institute, which promotes and supports community-based education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

About the American Indian College Fund

With its credo "Educating the Mind and Spirit," the American Indian College Fund is the nation's largest provider of private scholarships for American Indian students, providing an average of 6,000 scholarships annually for students seeking to better their lives and communities through education and support to the nation's 33 accredited tribal colleges and universities. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit www.collegefund.org

SOURCE American Indian College Fund