By Alabama Public Radio
Birmingham, AL – Children in Afghanistan are getting some help from Alabama soldiers and real estate agents. The Birmingham-based 926th Engineer Battalion is teaming up with the state Association of Realtors. They'll collect and ship pencils, notebooks, crayons and shoes for children in the country that's seen its share of war. Sergeant Broderick Smith is returning to Afghanistan Wednesday after a two-week break. He says the conditions he saw there since arriving in March made him want to do something to help. Smith's wife Towannah is a real estate agent in Montgomery and helped promote the drive among her colleagues. Organizers estimate that hundreds of dollars' worth of supplies have been donated so far.