Accenture Gives $1 Million to Help Develop Aidmatrix Global Relief Network
Food, Medical and Disaster Relief Efforts to Aid More Than 26 Million People Worldwide
NEW YORK; April 29, 2004 – As part of the Accenture Corporate Citizenship investment program, Accenture(a) today announced a $1 million grant by the Accenture Foundation to Aidmatrix to support the development of the organization’s Global Relief Network. The contribution is part of a broader commitment by Accenture of core skills and volunteer time that will be used by Aidmatrix to expand its food relief efforts globally, as well as further develop the organization’s technology support for disaster relief and medical supply aid.
The grant, which will be dispersed over two years, extends the relationship between Accenture and Aidmatrix, which began more than a year ago through a highly successful volunteer program and virtual food drive.
Aidmatrix provides solutions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of delivering humanitarian aid items, in day-to-day programs and in times of disaster. Specifically, Aidmatrix uses supply chain capabilities to help international, regional and local agencies bring items such as food, clothing, medical, and building supplies to people in need. "This initiative reflects the commitment of the Accenture Corporate Citizenship investment program to help people reach their full potential and build the capacity of organizations to improve the way the world lives and works," said Vernon Ellis, Accenture’s international chairman and chairman of Accenture’s Corporate Citizenship Council. "The Accenture - Aidmatrix relationship is a perfect fit. Aidmatrix has demonstrated its leadership in bringing technology and effective supply chain management fundamentals to the critical task of quickly getting food and medical supplies to the people who need them."
"With over three billion people around the world living in poverty, and many millions suffering from unnecessary hunger, disease and disaster situations, it is clear that something must be done to improve our ability to reach out and provide aid," said Lekha Singh, founder and CEO of Aidmatrix. "With the help of this generous commitment from Accenture, Aidmatrix will help ensure that the right aid reaches the right people at the right time, while reducing the waste of unused food, medical supplies, clothing and other items. We look forward to making a significant impact in the lives of people in need by changing the way that humanitarian aid is delivered worldwide."
Three Global Relief Network Components
- Phase One - Food Relief Component - Extend and enhance Aidmatrix’s existing food relief efforts to Europe, Latin America and up to 30 cities in the United States. By linking corporate food donors, individual donors and nonprofit agencies to regional and national food banks, this expansion can help bring 60 million pounds of food to five million Europeans each year, and over 280 million pounds of food to 20 million Americans annually.
- Phase Two - Medical Relief Component - Build and deploy a basic medical supply chain solution (piloted in India and Africa) that will quickly increase access to medical supplies for 1.5 million people in the pilot phase alone.
- Phase Three - Disaster Relief Component - Enable Aidmatrix to work with disaster agencies to develop enhanced "first-in" disaster evaluation team capabilities. The objective of this phase will be to identify and build appropriate solutions for evaluation teams, enabling them to better document the type and amount of aid needed immediately from the disaster site, and empowering donors to more easily and quickly fulfill those needs.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With approximately 90,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$11.8 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2003. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
About Aidmatrix
Aidmatrix is a not-for-profit online network that provides internet-based solutions that improve efficiency and reduce waste in the delivery of humanitarian aid. With world-class technology, Aidmatrix will provide the information, decision support, and collaboration environment for partners to more effectively provide food, clothing, building supplies and other aid items to people in need. Aidmatrix offers solutions for hunger, disaster relief, general humanitarian aid, donor services, medical and health relief and fundraising. Partner organizations include the world’s leading suppliers, manufacturers and distributors of food and aid items, major non-profit organizations, technology providers, and other industry leaders and organizations. Aidmatrix has set a goal to touch 50 million lives by 2005. Based in Dallas, Aidmatrix is supported by donations of cash and in-kind services. Visit Aidmatrix at www.Aidmatrix.org.
(a) References to Accenture include Accenture Ltd and its subsidiaries as well as independent charitable organizations that bear the Accenture name.
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Laura Ryan
+1 (212) 614 4951