Club 25 is launched!

Well it is not exactly Club Med but there is a new club out on the seven seas that is proving very popular!  Sixty three sailors on board HMAS ANZAC put their names up for quilts and somehow the Commanding Officer and the Chaplain selected 25 hence the launch of....

Club 25!

That is right - that is the nickname that the Chaplain (or someone else - not sure who) coined for the 25 sailors who were successful in being selected to receive one of the 25 quilts we are sending to HMAS ANZAC.  Now I haven't heard from all of the 25 yet but a lot of them have emailed me and from their comments they are pretty excited about their quilts and laundry bags.

Thank you Jan Maree and your quilters for this wonderful and generous gift to our hard-working and long-suffering sailors so far from their love-ones.

Padre

I am thankful that I have been one of the people selected to receive one of the handmade quilts, and would be very grateful to also get a laundry bag.

Thank you very much for the effort you are putting in to this, it is greatly appreciated and a wonderful idea for morale.

I am one of the lucky 25 people aboard HMAS Anzac selected for a quilt from your organisation.  I would also like a laundry bag for the quilt.

I am the medical officer aboard the ship and the quilt will be a much appreciated addition to the sickbay for the comfort of those who are ill, and myself and my staff would like to thank you and your fellow quilters for your thoughtfulness and kindness to the men and women of the Armed Forces of Australia.

I have the honour of being selected from HMAS ANZAC to be one of the recipients of the Aussie Hero Quilts that are very generously being crafted and donated by volunteers.   I consider myself exceptionally fortunate to receive such a personal item for which an incredible amount of time, effort and cost has been sacrificed. 

I would appreciate a laundry bag if available and don't have any preferences regarding the style of bag provided. 

Please pass on my sincere thanks in advance to all those involved in this very special endeavour. The quilt will have pride of place and be an enduring reminder for my family and I of ANZAC’s operational deployment and all those who have sacrificed and provided service for our great country.

Thankyou very much for your generosity and your quilt will be much appreciated and if possible would love a laundry bag.

I am very grateful to be emailing you this morning. 

As you are more than likely aware, your Quits have provoked a great deal of interest within our Crew.  I was lucky enough to be drawn out of the hat for the Petty Officer's Mess along with one of the other boys. 

I know that quite a bit of work goes into making a Quilt and would like to thank you all for your efforts. There is an overwhelming sense of pride that is bought about by people as yourself using your creativity and putting so much effort into making a gift for a perfect stranger. I can say that we are all very appreciative and very humbled to know you are thinking of us. 

I hope this finds you well and the days spent Quilting are a lot of fun.

I have been lucky enough to be selected to receive one of your fantastic Aussie Hero Quilts. 

In the email it also asked if we would like a Laundry bag. If it possible to receive one of these also that would be fantastic! 

I would like to thank you in advance for the wonderful job you are doing, and offering your time to support our serving men and women.

I have also been told that there is an option to request a laundry bag as well, so if this is possible may I request to have one of those too. 

Thank you very much for the chance to acquire one of these quilts. It will be very much appreciated.

I am one of the lucky 25 members to receive an Aussie Hero Quilt. 

I would like to thank you in advance for this outstanding generosity.

I was a lucky candidate of many, selected to receive a quilt from 'Aussie Hero Quilts'. 

Thank you so much for your generous offer and I appreciate the opportunity to enjoy something from home. I was also asked to notify you if I wished to receive a laundry bag. This would be fantastic if you could please. 

Again thank you so much for your generosity. If there is anything else you need from me please don't hesitate to contact me. Also, if there is anything I could do for you to show my appreciation I'm more than happy. I can send a ships plaque if you haven't already received one provided this is a suitable gesture. Please let me know.

If it is possible, may I also have a laundry bag, that would be much appreciated..... Thank you for the time and efforts of yourself and the other ladies helping you out, I have done a couple of deployments now and this is by far the greatest treat :-) thank you again

I have been luckily enough to get the opportunity to receive a quilt out of 25 of my shipmates. If possibile I would also like a laundry bag.  Thanks again for all your hard work, for our sailors and their families.

I would like to express my many thanks for the effort you guys have put in for these quilts, not only myself but my shipmates as well.   I really look forward to receiving it and it will be in use for many years to come.   If there is any spare laundry bags as well, i will really appreciate it.

Have a great day.

I am one of the very lucky people to receive one of your quilts and i would love to get a laundry bag if it isnt to much work on you lovely people..
Thank you for all you support .. Things like this will put a smile on my face everyday till i get to see my loved one  

I would like to thank you all for going to all the effort of making these quilts for our ship. 


I was one of the extremely lucky 25 personnel selected to receive a quilt and am a member of HMAS Anzac. Thank you very much it has really made my day hearing of the news

I don't think there is any doubt, once again, that what we are doing is appreciated.


I thought you might like to know that HMAS ANZAC's motto is "United We Stand"
They are the third Australian Ship to be named "HMAS ANZAC"
Their official home port is Albany Western Australia, as that is where WWI Australian soldiers stopped for a few days on the way to the Middle East / Egypt 1914-1918 

And finally a couple of lovely thank you messages arrived over the weekend.

G’day Naomi and all the folks from AHQ,

A batch of your wonderful quilts recently arrived here in the Sinai, Egypt. They are a great initiative and have been well received by all the Aussie Service personnel. It is nice to get something so personal in the post. I thank you all for taking the time to support our deployment and I want you all to know that we appreciate your efforts. You generosity reminds us all of just how lucky we are to be Australians.

Warmest regards,

The icing on our cake for tonight is this lovely picture that appeared on facebook yesterday morning along with a lovely thank you message.

A special thank you to Larissa and her daughter from sunny Darwin, who made this Aussie Hero Quilt.  I received it recently while serving in the Middle East and I will cherish it :-)  We all appreciate what you do for us also.

Till next time........keep spreading the word and happy stitching!