The UPS Foundation has announced a $500,000 pledge to the Aidmatrix Foundation to assist in theinternational expansion of its programme to improve the distribution of aid relief supplies.
The strategic investment of the charitable arm of UPS includes a $250,000 grant to theAidmatrix Foundation matched with $250,000 in donated transportation.
“The UPS Foundation has seen the tangible impact of the Aidmatrix Network on relief effortsin the U.S. – so we are proud to support this effort to transform relief operations around theglobe,” said Ken Sternad, President of The UPS Foundation.
Aidmatrix currently uses supply chain technology to provide aid relief agencies ornon-governmental organisations (NGOs), with a tool for collection and distribution of donated itemsthroughout the U.S. The expansion will use similar technology to simplify and lower the costof delivery for humanitarian aid around the globe. Initial deployments will begin in LatinAmerica and Eastern Europe.
“NATO/EADRCC employs Aidmatrix solutions for our civilian disaster relief efforts to helpoptimise our efforts and maximize relief impact,” said Guenter Bretschneider, Head of NATO EADRCC(Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre) based in Brussels, Belgium. “Sincetransportation is a critical component in our work, we are very excited to learn about the UPSpilot program. This will definitely help further increase our humanitarian relief efforts.”
“As a result of The UPS Foundation’s strategic investment, our capacity to transport domesticdisaster relief aid has been transformed,” said Aidmatrix CEO, Governor Scott McCallum. “Sinceits inception, millions of dollars in aid have flowed to those in need. With this next effort, UPSwill help to bring this same aid to those in need around the globe.”
The technology and processes built in the Aidmatrix program provide a framework forinternational NGOs to manage the transportation of commodities worldwide. As more internationalorganisations make use of these solutions, Aidmatrix hopes to become the standard for humanitarianaid. These improvements also will enable companies like UPS to utilize a single system to manageand report domestic and international in-kind donations.
