Monday, April 14, 2008

Bush Donates Lots of Money to Charity

President Bush and Vice President Cheney and their wives have released information about their contributions to charities last year.

The White House said that Mr. Bush and the first lady, Laura Bush, gave $165,660 to churches and charitable organizations, a figure that represents nearly 18 percent of their total income of $936,111.

The organizations that received gifts from President and Mrs. Bush included the Crawford Volunteer Fire Department, in their Texas hometown; the Malaria No More Fund, which works in Africa and has been supported by Mrs. Bush; Martha’s Table, a soup kitchen in Washington; Susan G. Komen for the Cure (formerly known as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation); and St. John’s Church, an Episcopal parish near the White House.

The White House did not say how much money the Bushes contributed to specific organizations.

Laura Bush, according to the White House, donated all net proceeds from a $150,000 advance she received for a children’s book she has written with her daughter, Jenna Bush. That money went to Teach for America, a nonprofit group that provides recent college graduates with opportunities to teach at schools in poor neighborhoods, and to the New Teacher’s Project.

Vice President Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, said they contributed $166,547 to charity in 2007, which represented 5.5 percent of their total income of $3.05-million. The Cheneys did not identify the organizations that received their gifts.

The Cheneys said that their total contributions to charitable organizations during the years Mr. Cheney has served as vice president totaled $7.96-million.

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