Joe Biden Donates $50,000 To Pennsylvania Anti-Domestic Violence Groups

Joe Biden Donates $50,000 To Pennsylvania Anti-Domestic Violence Groups
Vice President Joe Biden addresses the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Centennial Celebration luncheon in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Vice President Joe Biden addresses the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Centennial Celebration luncheon in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

WASHINGTON -- A Pennsylvania nonprofit awarded Vice President Joe Biden $50,000 last month to honor his contributions to the state. This week, he gave it all to two Pennsylvania groups fighting domestic violence.

Philadelphia blogger Laura Goldman tipped off HuffPost about Biden quietly donating his $50,000 to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Philadelphia-based Women Against Abuse. The vice president was awarded the money, along with a gold medal for distinguished achievement, at a Dec. 14 dinner hosted by The Pennsylvania Society.

The Pennsylvania Society stipulated that Biden donate his award money to a charity of his choice within the state. It shouldn't come as a surprise that he opted to give it to groups targeting domestic violence, one of his signature issues. He wrote the 1994 Violence Against Women Act and played a key role in its reauthorization last year. In October, he traveled to Texas to tour the National Domestic Violence Hotline he helped create under the law.

Leaders at the two groups were overjoyed by the contribution.

"Vice President Biden has dedicated his career to bringing awareness to domestic violence and ensuring victims and their children receive the resources they need to escape abuse and achieve safety,” Jeannine Lisitski, executive director of Women Against Abuse, said in a statement. “We are encouraged by the Vice President's recognition, and will continue to embody our mission of ending domestic violence in Philadelphia.”

Peg Dierkers, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said in a statement, "Vice President Biden has stood side-by-side with us on women's issues throughout his long and distinguished career in public service, particularly in securing passage of the Violence Against Women Act. This landmark legislation, whose 20th anniversary is being commemorated this year by PCADV and the commonwealth’s eight law schools, has not only protected victims of domestic violence, but saved countless lives over the past two decades."

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