See what our partners are doing thanks to Cisco and their Flip Cam Donation: Minnie's Food Pantry

Thanks to a generous donation from our partners at Cisco, we were able to provide many of our partners with a Flip HD Digital Video Camera so they are able to share and broadcast their work to their community more easily. We asked each of our partners to share with us a video containing a brief introduction to their organization and how they plan to use the Flip Cam.

Minnie's Food Pantry is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit agency that provides nutritious, free food to families that can't afford to buy groceries. Located in Plano, Texas, Minnie's Food Pantry is one of the largest pantries in Collin County. They pride themselves in the experience the family receives when they visit the food pantry. I'll let Cheryl "Action" Jackson, President of Minnie's Food Pantry, tell you more:




Learn more about Minnie's Food Pantry

Aidmatrix Speaks at 2012 Infopoverty World Conference at the United Nations

Aidmatrix's President & CEO Scott McCallum hosted a panel discussion on Thursday, March 22nd at the Infopoverty World Conference: "Who Drives the Digital Revolution? Development through Innovation". The conference was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Governor McCallum was the Chairman of the panel titled 'Fostering Strategic Innovation for Food Security'. The panel discussed innovations in recent years that can bring a crucial contribution to fighting poverty and hunger, as well as the issue of climate change, which has a devastating effect on crops in large parts of the world, and how new technologies can mitigate and address its causes. Other panel discussions during the conference included: "Who Drives the Digital Revolution?", "Promoting Health for All through New Technologies" and "Partnerships and Innovative Tools for Education".

Learn more about the conference

Congratulations Microsoft for Being Named a Computerworld Honors Award Laureate

We would like to congratulate our partners in the Microsoft Disaster Response Program on being named an Honorary Laureate in The Computerworld Honors Program for their work with Second Harvest Japan and Aidmatrix in the Japanese tsunami disaster relief efforts. The Microsoft Disaster Response Portal enabled responders to rapidly share critical information with the community and other relief organizations using dynamic maps, social media integration, photos & video content. "The Computerworld Honors Program was especially competitive this year, as more than 500 IT initiatives were nominated for their innovation and benefit to society," said Julia King, executive editor of events, Computerworld.

The winners will be recognized publicly at the Laureate Medal Ceremony and Awards Gala at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. on June 4, 2012

Learn more about the Computerworld Honors Program

Learn more about the Honorary Laureates

Real-World Windows Azure: Interview with Michael Ross, VP of Delivery at Aidmatrix

Interview by Himanshu Singh for Windows Azure Blogs

As part of the Real World Windows Azure interview series, I talked to Michael Ross, vice president for Delivery at Aidmatrix, about using Windows Azure to help power its humanitarian aid delivery solutions. Here’s what he had to say.

Himanshu Kumar Singh: Tell me about the Aidmatrix Foundation.

Michael Ross: Well, we create web-based supply-chain management (SCM) solutions that help our partners optimize distributing humanitarian relief. We started in 2001 and are headquartered in Dallas, with offices in Wisconsin, Washington D.C., Germany and India. More than 40,000 leading nonprofit, business, and government partners leverage our solutions to mobilize more than $1.5 billion in aid annually, worldwide. The donated goods, money and services impact the lives of more than 65 million people.

HKS: How does Aidmatrix leverage technology to deliver humanitarian aid?

MR: Increasingly, technology plays a vital role in enabling the rapid, targeted distribution of relief supplies to those in need. Our solutions help NGOs procure, manage and deliver humanitarian relief more efficiently by having real-time access to know what inventory is on hand and what unmet needs still exist. In this way, NGOs can save money in their purchasing, be more efficient in their distribution, and more responsive and transparent with their donors.

Read the full interview

Aidmatrix Speaks at National Defense University Conference on Horn of Africa Food Security Crisis

Aidmatrix's President & CEO Governor Scott McCallum spoke at the National Defense University's Conference on March 8th, which was titled “Horn of Africa Food Security Crisis: Implications for United States Africa Command”. Governor McCallum spoke on a panel about "Environmental Issues". The discussion was on the current negative trends for water/power/food availability in the Horn of Africa, and what steps need to be taken to address these concerns, as well as how environmental factors, especially deforestation, contributed to the famine in the Horn of Africa.

Read more about the conference

Spring Brings Killer Tornados to U.S. - National Donations Management Network Responds

Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Alabama all were hit by severe tornadoes in the past week. FEMA and the State Offices of Emergency Services are responding to these events. The National Donations Management Network (NDMN) helps support the States and their Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) in the recovery efforts by listing items needed by responders and ways in which to give. If you wish to give to the relief efforts, you can visit www.ndmn.us.

San Francisco's Fleet Week Association Launches Site for Van, Turkey Earthquake Recovery

The San Francisco Fleet Week Association is partnering with the City and County of San Francisco to assist with humanitarian aid to Van, Turkey, which experienced a devastating earthquake in late 2011. The Fleet Week Association has launched portals for both goods and financial donations. To learn more and to respond with direct donations to those in need, visit http://sffleetweekassoc.blob.core.windows.net/index.html.