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3 3 & T 5 # 5 7 8 sl-fl 2 7 > Z & & R; 3 > B 3 P = ues = $ fiH Local Grand and Toy office answers the call for school supplies in Middle Eastern nation ow often would you Hpul money and time into an effort half a world away, especially when you‘ll never see the beneâ€" fits? Even so, it can always make you sleep a little easiâ€" er at night knowing you‘ve helped enhance someone‘s life â€" even if you don‘t get to see the changes in action. But lan Greenwood, the commercial account manâ€" ager for Grand and Toy in Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo, can at least say he has the photos to see the smiles he helped make. With the help of his sales manager, Jason Neal, Greenâ€" wood was more than eager 10 lend a helping hand to children in the Middle East after being contacted by one of their popular customers who was looking for some help. humanitarian aid work to _ 2004. _ â€" â€" The reservist, who works _ A‘gnamstan. Af Kabul, Afghanistan, earlier The reservists built desks _ with Diemaco, has since Semiemors: + this year as a reservist with _ out of any materials they _ returned safely to Kitchener f i the Canadian Armed Forces. _ could tap into while workâ€" _ in September, after being f The reservist, who ing in cooperation with _ sent on the tour of duty to ~ wished to remain anonyâ€" _ local Afghanistan contracâ€" _ Afghanistan for six months. \ Waterioo named one of the world‘s ‘Smart 21‘ communities Diemaco, a manufacturâ€" er of weapons for the miliâ€" tary and law enforcement agencies, had an employee who was deployed for humanitarian aid work to Kabul, Afghanistan, earlier this year as a reservist with the Canadian Armed Forces. The Intelligent Communiâ€" ties _ Forum {ICF) announced last week that Waterloo has been selected from formal submissions from around the world by communities large and small to the ICF list of the Smart 21 communities. The announcement of these 21 finalists puts Waterâ€" loo in the list for selection of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year, which are models for the development of prosperous local economies based on broadband and information technology. "This recognition by the Intelligent Communities Forum speaks to Waterloo‘s position as truly being a By Ryan Conneut For The Chronicle mous. worked with other reservists to help rebuild and improve the infrastrucâ€" ture for the people of Kabul. They also worked to proâ€" vide resources such as elecâ€" tricity, food and fresh water in areas that needed supâ€" port. Diemaco explained to Greenwood that the local reservist was needing some help with an extra task that they were working on. In their spare time, a group of reservists decided to help construct a sixâ€"room allâ€"girls school in a suburb of Kabul that had been destroved in a previous war more than 10 years ago. "The reservists just disâ€" covered this school that needed to be rebuilt, but they had no money for school supplies. We told them we would help out any way we could so we basicalâ€" ly sent over whatever they needed," explained Greenâ€" wood , who has worked with Grand and Toy for almost 11 years, after being transâ€" ferred to Kitchener from London when the Kâ€"W office opened up in April 2004. The reservists built desks out of any materials they could tap into while workâ€" ing in cooperation with local Afghanistan contracâ€" global leader in leveraging technology to make our community a better place to live and work," says Mayor Herb Epp. "Throughout this region, there are countless examples of businesses and other organizations like our universities, hospitals and schools that have not only recognized the value of technology, but that have seized the opportunities that come with being a conâ€" nected community." Waterloo met the criteria established by ICF and its research team, and is conâ€" sidered to be a community that is among the leaders in leveraging broadband infraâ€" structure and technology for economic development and BUSINESS In the meantime, the reservist sent messages back home asking for donations of children‘s clothing and school supplies. Greenwood sent school supplies in the excess of $2,000, â€" ranging from crayons, globes, school books, rulers, pencils and other craft supplies. ~ "We thought it was a good project for our branch because we‘re brand new, so it was one of those feelâ€"good type of ventures for us," said Greenwood, who works out of his Waterloo office. All Grand and Toy asked for in return were a couple souvenir snapshots featurâ€" ing glowing smiles of chilâ€" dren inside their new school. tors to rebuild the school "Most of the people at our branch were pretty emotional about it (when they received the photos}," Greenwood said, having received about five photos, including some which were poster size. _ _"We had the photos around the office for about a month after." social benefit. ICF is a speâ€" cial interest group within the World Teleport Associaâ€" tion that focuses on the uses of broadband technology for economic development by communities large and small in both the developed and developing world. Each year, ICF selects communities from around "Waterloo is a community that encourages and embraces technology..." â€" Jim Balsillie Research In Motion the world to appear on its list of the Top Seven Intelliâ€" gent Communities of the Year. These seven communiâ€" ties are selected based on indicators that include the significant deployment of broadband communicaâ€" tions, the extent to which the community enables a knowledge workforce, the promotion of digital democâ€" racy, the ability to foster innovation. and effective economic development marketing that leverages the community‘s broadband, labour and other assets to attract new employees. "Waterloo is a communiâ€" ty that encourages and embraces technology and entrepreneurship on every level," says Jim Balsillie, chairman and coâ€"CEO at Research In Motion and honourary chair of the comâ€" mittee that submitted Waterloo‘s nomination. "RIM is in good company with a number of other Waterlooâ€"based organizaâ€" tions that have had signifiâ€" cant global impact. That doesn‘t happen by accident; it happens because there is multifaceted support for new ideas and new techâ€" nologies within academic, corporate and municipal government communities." Waterloo‘s nomination credits several organizations that include the universities, hospitals, libraries and schools as well as compaâ€" nies such as RIM, Open Text, Sybase, iAnywhere and Manulife that export their products, technology and services around the world. It also notes the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, The Centre for International Governance Innovation, The Institute for Quantum Computing, The Research and Technology Park, and the presence of Communitech and Canaâ€" da‘s Technology Triangle as being further reflections of leadership as an Intelligent Community. "We‘re very proud that Waterloo has been selected as one of the Smart 21 finalâ€" Continued on page 24