Logistics key to food aid

By Jim Devine on www.hu-online.org

By the end of October this year, the UN estimates there will be seven billion people on the planet.

The International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies says one billion are famished and another billion obese.

Unsurprisingly, most of the obese are in the developed world; most of the underfed are not.

The 2011 Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances, produced by the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Prosperity, says private capital investment ($228b) remains the largest single financial flow from developed to developing nations. Remittances ($174b) are the second largest, followed by overseas development aid ($120b) and global philanthropy ($53b).

You'd think half a trillion dollars a year would be enough to sustain a billion. Apparently not.

The IFRC says the increasing frequency of disasters due to population explosion, climate change or both, is inflicting ever greater damage, loss and dislocation on vulnerable communities worldwide.

At the same time food prices are rising to the point where, according to Oxfam, the global food supply chain is "bust".

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FareShare Hunger Relief Warehouse in Kingston upon Hull, England Now Live

FareShare Hull is now live on Aidmatrix' Online Warehouse solution. “The system is live and the first food items should be arriving any day. The first shipments will be the first of October,” reported Shari Temple of Aidmatrix (9:54 GMT September 21, 2011).

This is a newly opened FareShare depot. Kingston upon Hull is in the northern part of England near the North Sea. This is the 3^rd warehouse this month and the 11^th for the network. Thanks for all that helped make this another successful go-live!

Aidmatrix Network Fall 2011 Release

Aidmatrix Network Fall 2011 Release Delivers New Virtual Fundraising Tool with Social Media Integration, Managed eMarketing Services for Nonprofits, and Windows Azure™ Cloud Platform for Disaster Relief Warehouses

Dallas, Texas - September 22, 2011 - The Aidmatrix Foundation Inc. today announced its Fall 2011 release of the Aidmatrix Network for Humanitarian Relief. This latest release is currently in production and delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to partner NGOs and government agencies. The major additions to the product suite include the new Virtual Aid Drive Plus+ module, an online fundraising tool with Flash game-like components to engage and entertain donors through the giving process while also enabling the donor to further promote through social media. Several new managed service offerings are also included in this release: Event Site Development, Hosting & Support; eMarketing Managed Services; and Social Media Advertising Services. Enhanced modules within the Supply Chain Management Suite include the Online Warehouse module which was migrated to the Microsoft Windows Azure™ Cloud to provide even greater scalability and rapid worldwide deployment capability - especially important during times of disaster response. The Online Warehouse Plus+ module and Online Ordering for Feeding America modules were also enhanced. For complete technical details and screenshots, visit www.aidmatrix.org/Fall2011.

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FareShare Hunger Relief Warehouse in Dundee, Scotland, Now Live

FareShare Dundee is now live on Aidmatrix' Online Warehouse solution – "They entered their first receives about 20 minutes ago and should be entering their first shipments any minute now," reported Shari Temple of Aidmatrix (12:14 GMT September 19, 2011).

The depot is in Dundee, Scotland. They are in the east coast between Edinburgh and Aberdeen. FareShare now has 10 live depots (warehouses) on Aidmatrix' Online Warehouse. Thanks for all that helped make this another successful go-live!

Save the Children & Aidmatrix Partner to Increase Efficiency of International Humanitarian Aid

The partnership between Save the Children & Aidmatrix began as a pilot program in Ethiopia (Click here to see pictures from the Addis Country office kickoff). The team leveraged Aidmatrix's Online Warehouse Module and Procurement Module. The Online Warehouse Module is an online application used to manage the inventory of humanitarian relief warehouses. The Procurement Module is an online application used to organize the purchasing of products and services for your humanitarian relief efforts. This partnership will provide Save the Children enhanced transparency and accountability while increasing their ability to manage relief efforts around the world.

Central Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) Texas Wildfires Call Notes

UPDATES:

One Star Foundation

OneStar is putting up the Volunteer Portal as quickly as possible.

Texas Baptist Men Region 21

The shelter with our Austin Shower/Laundry unit at Ascencion Catholic Church, Bastrop closed at 8pm Friday night, and rolled up and returned the unit to Austin.

Many shelter residents with insurance are going to hotels, or are arranging to live with friends. Those whose homes survived by God's grace and are located where roads have been reopened away from areas still hot with potential to flare - are returning home even though weeks may pass before water and electrical services can be restored through adjacent burned out areas.

As the 12-15 original shelters coalesced into 3 shelters, other feeding and shower/laundry units are supporting at these sites.

We may be needed later to support clean-out and chainsaw crews although FEMA is currently bringing in private contractors to supply TX National Guard workers incoming into the area.

UMC-Austin

The United Methodist Church had Spiritual and Emotional Care Teams in Bastrop this past week serving the evacuees/survivors at the Bastrop Middle School shelter early in the week and then at the Convention Center the remainder of the week. We served hundreds of people there with: spiritual and emotional care dispensed information, assisted in rehabbing firefighters, and otherwise served to support and encourage the people as they came to the Convention Center to find out if their homes had burned.

The Austin District of the United Methodist Church have scheduled two training sessions (Sept. 16th and Sept. 24th) to train and credential other Early Responders for the clean up efforts.

Capitol Area Food Bank

Capital Area Food Bank of TX (CAFB) held an emergency meeting for Partner Agency food pantries in the Bastrop and surrounding areas at the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry http://www.bastropfoodpantry.org .

All CAFB Partner Agencies report that they have been active in response efforts. All are providing food and other assistance to families and first responders. All report that their immediate needs are taken care of. Smithville reports that the Smithville Recreation Center is very organized and running smoothly. Primera Baptist has also been running as a shelter since Sunday.

CAFB Commitment and Long Term Care Plans

CAFB recognizes all Partner Agencies in the affected and surrounding areas as disaster agencies. These agencies have the commitment of CAFB that we will give priority in making sure all their needs are met so that they can meet the need of the community. CAFB is working with Central TX VOAD (www.centraltexasvoad.org) The Austin Disaster Relief Network (ADRN) (www.adrntx.org), Texas Food Bank Network (www.endhungerintex.org), Feeding America (www.feedingamerica.org) and State Emergency Mgmt to coordinate efforts.

· All CAFB Partner Agencies in affected and surrounding areas are instructed use the ADRN call center and refer victims to the ADRN Victim Hotline 512-331-2600 & ADRN Public Hotline at 512-331-2200which is open from 8am – 10pm

· CAFB Has appointed the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry as CAFB’s main point for centralized disaster coordination for all partners. Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry will assist in continued coordination and unity of all affected partners. Please include Tresha Silva director@bastropfoodpantry.org on all future disaster updates

· CAFB will make a statement of visibility and response by having a mobile pantry distribution at Bastrop Emergency Food Pantry on Tuesday, September 13 from 2 -4 p.m. This distribution serves many purposes:

· First and foremost, to provide family boxes to families affected by this major disaster

· To make a statement to the media and community that the Capital Area Food Bank and its network of food pantries are present and are taking the leadership role in the area of food assistance, both disaster and daily

· Raise awareness that this pantry is where our victims can receive long term care

· Raise awareness of the needs of the community, to spur food donations and assure continued support

Vermont Joins National Donations Management Network to Aid in Flood Relief

The State of Vermont joined the NDMN program to help manage the donations for the ongoing flooding across the state. The State is still in response mode after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee came through in previous weeks. The NDMN program is sponsored by FEMA, Accenture, UPS & the Aidmatrix Foundation and it provides each State with a web portal and tools for managing donation offers online, enabling the relief community to post their needs and the State's office of emergency services to help connect the two.
You can visit the the site at www.ndmn.us

FareShare Hunger Relief Warehouse in North Wales Is Now Live

FareShare UK's latest hunger relief warehouse just went live this week in North Wales on the Aidmatrix Online Warehouse solution. This is part of a multi-warehouse rollout plan underway this year. The depot is in Llandudno, Wales. They are in the far north part of Wales. "They entered their first receives about an hour ago and should be entering their first shipments any minute now," reported Shari Temple, Aidmatrix Global SCM Senior Principal Consultant (posted on Sep 12, 2011, at 12:57 PM GMT).

FareShare now has 9 live depots (warehouses) on Aidmatrix. The next one is scheduled to be in Dundee.

Congratulations to the FareShare team and for all that helped make this another successful go-live!

Remembering 9/11/01

We take this time to remember all those who lost their lives and who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.

Catholic Relief Services Partners with Aidmatrix to Improve International Relief and Development Efforts

Aidmatrix recently announced its partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), an international humanitarian agency that assists impoverished and disadvantaged people overseas. Through this partnership, Aidmatrix supply chain management technology will enhance CRS' global efforts.

"We believe that the Aidmatrix technology will greatly enhance Catholic Relief Services' programs around the world, and our staff is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to begin applying it to their work," stated Ken Hackett, President of Catholic Relief Services.

This program will begin with pilots in four locations: Kenya, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Palestine.

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Texas Fires Continue to Spread

As of this morning, it is reported that more than 1,300 homes were destroyed and at least 434 people in 4 shelters. One fire in Bastrop County is reported to have burned 34,000 acres Wednesday. The ARC reported a total of 18 shelters that are open but the numbers of victims is still climbing. Several projects are underway from VOAD agencies and lots of resources are available. Learn more at: www.statesman.com

Learn more about how you can help

Aidmatrix to Host "Digital Ball" Event for DFW Technology Community; Founders' Dinner Kickoff Planned for October 2011

The Aidmatrix Foundation Inc. and NPower Texas announced plans to bring the "Digital Ball," a technology networking and charitable fundraising event, to the Dallas / Fort Worth area in 2012. This well-known annual event was introduced by NPower in Atlanta, Georgia, and successfully followed by Charlotte, North Carolina, as a leading annual convocation of local CIOs and technology companies focused on empowering the nonprofit community through the adoption of technology. This will be the first Aidmatrix/NPower Digital Ball in the DFW area. In preparation for the event, Aidmatrix is hosting a Digital Ball Founders' Dinner Kickoff for October, 2011, and interested parties are now invited to apply for committee membership by contacting Karen Krygowski at Karen_krygowski@aidmatrix.org or 972-869-8166.

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HLA Reports on New International Transportation Program for INGOs; Grants Now Available

Aidmatrix developed a web portal technology and supporting program infrastructure that aims to match freight forwarders with the needs of International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs). The idea, according to Aidmatrix's European Operations Coordinator, Dave Makepeace, is to create an online community where specific transport needs can be packaged and published online for logistics service providers (LSPs) to bid on. The result is not only a targeted, high-turnaround marketplace, but also a system that supports the development of relationships and trust between INGOs and LSPs.

Read the full story at www.humanitarianlogistics.org