I SEW FOR HEROES.......

I often wonder if I manage to convey to all of those who sew for us just how much what we do is appreciated.   I am well aware that many of you do not ever have the opportunities to meet recipients and serving members that I am able to meet.  Those of you who have met recipients, and not necessarily even their own recipients, know what I am talking about when I say that it is not until you meet someone and hear their gratitude in their voice, see it in their eyes or feel it in their handshake, or usually their hug, that you will really understand how much what we do means to the troops and also to their families.  

Well here is something tangible that I hope gives you an insight into how much our work is valued.  

Back in September I changed the cover photo on our Facebook page to show some patches that had been sent to us the previous year as a thank you.  I just thought it looked cool and it was time to put something else on the cover picture.

What I did not expect was the response from many of the Aussie Hero Friends who had not seen these before.  In 2014 a small number of these were sent to me from a contact in Kabul as a thank you. They were handed out to some of the ladies who sew for us and I just had the photo left.  Lots of people asked if they could still get them and asked where they could get them from. I had to tell everyone that we did not have any left and that there would be no more.......

Or so I thought at the time.....

Then I got a Facebook message from a fellow who was deployed to Kabul and was due to come home THE VERY NEXT DAY!!  Yet he saw the new cover pic with the patches and offered to arrange to have some made.  I am a bit slow on the uptake sometimes. not only was he offering to have some made, he had them made as a gift and made all the arrangements in his last 24 hours before he left Kabul.  He arranged for his replacement to take delivery of them and send them to him at home.  Once they arrived at home he forwarded them to me. 

As you can imagine I was really touched and bouyed by such a gesture and wanted to share it all with you but had to wait till I had the patches and then also till I had some one to help me mail them out to everyone.  More on that later.

Well imagine my delight when in the same week I received the patches from the same fellow, I received another parcel.... this time from a chaplain who had also been deployed to Kabul, and whose wife is one of our Aussie Hero Friends.  She had liked the post on Facebook about the patches. He had seen it and also arranged to have some more patches made for us as a gift.

How wonderful was that???  What a lovely gesture and not just from one fellow but from two.

Now as I said, I had to wait till I had someone to help me mail the patches out...... addressing all the envelopes, adding the patches and stamps and more importantly, keeping  a record of who they were sent to.  Well now I have a volunteer.   Her dad is a chaplain and is currently deployed and she has offered to come and give me a hand now that her HSC Exams are over!  Yay. Always love an extra pair of hands!

Work will start on the mail out tomorrow and I expect that the first patches will hit the post on Friday..... so watch your letter box.   You might be one of the lucky ones!

And a massive big thank you to our two very thoughtful fellows from Kabul.  

Much appreciated.

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

Jan-Maree  xx