i2 announces charitable e-marketplace

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 11/1/2000

Delivering food, clothing, and building materials to the needy is a major challenge for aid organizations. That may explain why nearly 31 million people go hungry in the U.S., despite the 96 billion tons of excess food that are produced annually.

aidmatrix, a not-for-profit e-marketplace recently launched by the i2 Foundation, an affiliate of i2 Technologies, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard, hopes to change that situation by bringing together donors, aid organizations, logistics providers, and those in need.

aidmatrix has set a goal to raise $100 million to launch the online community over the next year. Working in collaboration with CARE, the American Red Cross, and America's Second Harvest, their mission is to touch 50 million lives by 2005.

"This public marketplace will provide the collaboration and supply chain optimization required to get products like food and clothing from donors to people in need, when they need it, and where they need it," said Kristy Dooley, executive director of aidmatrix.

The electronic exchange will utilize i2's TradeMatrix solution, and leverage the experience of ResourceLink.org, a portal created by HP that has already helped facilitate the distribution of more than 10 million pounds of food for America's Second Harvest.

For more information on how corporate donors can participate in aidmatrix, visit www.aidmatrix.org, call 469-357-3185, or send e-mail to info@aidmatrix.org .