Barak Obama has chosen organizations to receive his Nobel Peace Prize money

Washington, D.C. -- President Barack Obama has made good on a promise to give his $1.4 million in Nobel Peace Prize money to charity.

On Thursday, Obama released the names of the organizations that will benefit, among them the Central Asia Institute, which promotes girls’ education in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The institute was co-founded by Greg Mortenson — humanitarian, two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and New York Times best-selling author — who spoke earlier this month in Auburn.

Mortenson and his organizations, Pennies for Peace and the Central Asia Institute, have built more than 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to his Web site, gregmortenson.com, more than 58,000 children have been educated through these schools. His visit was part of the Auburn Education Foundation’s Inspiring Speaker Series.

Obama put Fisher House, an organization that provides housing for the families of those being treated at major military and Veterans Affairs medical centers, at the top of the list with a $250,000 donation. Fisher House was followed by the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, the project his two immediate predecessors are running to raise money for relief and reconstruction efforts in Haiti, which will get $200,000. The Central Asia Institute will receive $100,000, according to Reuters News Service.

“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.”

White House officials said that the money would go directly from the Nobel Committee to the charities and that it would be released in the next few days