Fred Lucas, Staff Writer
(CNSNews.com) – Barack Obama started serving as chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an education grant program, in 1995, the same year he was elected to the Illinois state Senate. As chairman, Obama oversaw the disbursement of $49.2 million in Annenberg grants, most of which went to non-profit groups with the stated intent of improving Chicago’s public schools.
Since the start of his political career, Obama has received a total of $331,528 in campaign contributions from people who served as staff and board members of non-profit groups that received grants from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC).
In 2005 and 2006, board members and staff of non-profit groups that had received grants from CAC gave another $34,500 to the Hope Fund, Obama’s federal political action committee.
A review of publicly available IRS 990 forms for the years 1998 through 2002, shows that Annenberg grants went to 94 different projects during that period. The CAC grants required a 2-1 match, with the other two parts coming from other public and private sources, so a total of $147 million in grants were made as consequence of the CAC program over its 6-year lifespan, although only $49.2 million was issued directly by the CAC to grant recipients.
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