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DDN was originally launched as the Digital Divide Clearinghouse in October 1999. The Clearinghouse was a section of a larger web portal called Helping.org. Launched by the AOL Foundation, the Benton Foundation, the National Urban League and other institutions, Helping.org was dedicated to volunteerism, technology capacity building for nonprofits and charitable giving. Two months after the website was launched, Bill Clinton hosted a national Digital Divide Summit in Washington D.C. During the meeting, representatives from civil society and the private sector met with Clinton; soon, the idea was hatched to create a new national Web portal dedicated to bridging the digital divide. This decision led to the Digital Divide Clearinghouse spinning off from Helping.org to become a new website, The Digital Divide Network, which was launching in December 1999 by the Benton Foundation.