High-Tech Help for the Hungry

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Looking to new approaches used in for-profit distribution, Aidmatrix created a similar solution for Second Harvest and its far-flung associates. Both donors and agencies now have the ability to go online and see real-time inventory, place orders, make offerings, post needs, and track their efforts. If a food shelf gets a truckload of frozen chicken parts, it can put out a call for a truckload of rice to go with them. If a corporation has a shipment of canned milk that's two weeks from expiring, it can find out which agencies might want the goods.

Aidmatrix also offers online services for individuals, and smaller organizations step into the distribution chain too. On its site (www.aidmatrix.org), shelters and soup kitchens can set up their own donation pages, listing the goods they need -- and the dollars they could use from potential donors. In certain cases, these virtual charity drives can be designed to show donors just how much food or other forms of goodwill their contributions are generating out in the world, as measured in meals or blankets.

Ideally, the system helps agencies fill their pantries with what they really need. Meanwhile, donors get a targeted, no-hassle, results-oriented approach to giving -- complete with the immediate gratification that may lead them to give some more. According to Lekha Singh, founder and CEO of Aidmatrix, the tool can be used by any type of donor, for any purpose, from supporting local zoos to purchasing items for war victims in other countries. It's like tracking a package: Donors can see exactly what their money is buying at every step along the way.

Having taken root in the United States, Aidmatrix now hopes to lend its systems to various relief efforts around the world, with a goal of touching 50 million lives by 2005.

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