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Pro���le iWarriors: Moldmakers on a Mission Photos courtesy of iWarriors. By Sherry L. Baranek Three years ago, Tim Bartz, co-owner of 2010 Small Shop Leadtime Leader Mold Craft Inc. (Willernie, MN) and his wife Kim listened intently when their colleague Bob Byers (a regular contributor to MoldMaking Technology with his ���Mold Shop Puzzle��� series) relayed the journey of his son Will���a member of the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines stationed in Camp Pendleton, CA���whose battle with cancer prevented him from being deployed to Afghanistan alongside his fellow Marines. The 3/5 had also experienced a high injury and casualty count in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan, which unfortunately resulted in the return of many young men as single, double and triple amputees. Bob���s story had an enormous impact on the couple, who decided they had to take action. Tim Bartz���co-owner of Mold Craft Inc. and co-founder of iWarriors with his wife Kim���engraves an iPad. The Bartz family decided to organize a donation of iPads to these wounded warriors. According to iWarriors co-founder Kim Bartz, these iPads would help the marines recover faster by enabling them to stay in touch with family and friends who were unable to be with them at the hospital���as well as remain connected to the outside world. Tim took the next step by setting up the nonprofit iWarriors. org to raise money for severely injured members of the 5th Marines based at Camp Pendleton, CA. The staff at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego provided a list of amputees. After putting up an initial donation of $400 through Mold Craft, the couple challenged members and partners of the AMBA���via a letter writing campaign���to match this donation. 14 MoldMaking Technology March 2013 Getting Started The first round of donations landed the organization almost $10,000, which was enough to purchase iPads, cases, earbuds and iTunes cards for 15 members of the 3/5. Roger Klouda, President of Cedar Rapids, IA-based MSI Mold Builders, was on board from the very beginning. ���It is a way of paying back the men and women that give so much and ask for so little,��� Klouda notes. ���Communication is such a precious commodity and being able to communicate with your family when you are separated is very important to one���s recovery.��� MSI also put out a challenge to its 85-plus employees to get behind this cause and both MSI and Klouda���s family personally agreed to match whatever monies were raised. ���One employee made his Christmas present to his family members a major contribution to iWarriors instead of gifts,��� Klouda comments. ���MSI employees raised $4,250 dollars���and with the match it became $12,750.0���enough for 20-plus iPads. I couldn���t be prouder of the actions of all our employees to support these wonderful American heroes.��� Creative Blow Mold Tooling (Lee���s Summit, MO) was also involved after the initial letter writing campaign. ���After sharing with my employees more details on iWarriors and the results of AMBA���s involvement, some of our employees asked me how they could help,��� recalls President Michael Bohning. ���Back in 2011, we shared information about the organization with all of our employees and I committed to matching 100 percent of whatever employees could contribute. We raised about $2,300.��� Bohning challenged his employees again last year with another pledge of a 100 percent match. ���We kicked off the campaign with a pizza lunch and I had T-shirts made up with the iWarriors logo and gave one to every employee who contributed,��� he notes. ���I���m proud to say that 100 percent of my employees participated and we raised over $4,000. Getting our entire company involved in this campaign has raised the level of awareness for the needs of these veterans. It has also created a sense of pride for our people knowing that they are part of a larger effort through the AMBA to do some pretty amazing things to honor these heroes.��� Steven Rotman, President of Ameritech Die & Mold Inc. (Mooresville, NC) couldn���t agree more. ���Reading and trying to understand what our military men and women have done for our freedom, as well as helping make a better life for those in hostile situations, there is nothing less that should be done than to give freely from our hearts in sincere appreciation to their sacrifice and dedication,��� he states. ���In our everyday worlds, it is hard to imagine those who are risking their lives every day for our country, and the good of mankind. As far as