Grati-Tuesday 24 May 16

Hi All
I am sitting in a cafe at Brindabella Business Park waiting to meet a recipient having just had a great catch up Lisa R, one of our awesome quilters.

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From Facebook....

Thankyou Jan-Maree and Raylene from Portland for my husband's quilt. He is extremely appreciative for all that you do, as am I.

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Dear Julie Ann,

Thank you for your kind generosity making the Elmo themed Aussie Laundry bag for me. It looks amazing and i am very appreciative It even matches my Elmo quilt. It came at the right time as my old Laundry bag was starting to tear and have holes in it.. So it has already been put to good use. I joined the Navy in 2010 so I have been in the Navy for 6 years now.  I have been on three deployments in that time. I have done two deployments up here in the Middle East area. The first one at the start of 2014 under Op Slipper and now this one 2 years later on Operation Manitou. Both these deployments have been on HMAS Darwin. I also spent 7 months off Darwin working with custom and the patrol boat force under Operation Resolute. I have been married for 4 years now and i have only managed to be home for one anniversary in that time. During this deployement my first daughter Ella was born so I missed out on being there for her birth but I will finally get to meet her in about 35 days when i get home from this deployment.

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Hi Jan-Maree, 

my quilt arrived today - it is absolutely beautiful and I love it. I also received a beautiful laundry bag, some face cream soap and chocolate so I'm feeling very spoilt and so grateful for this beautiful gift.

Please pass on my thanks to Elizabeth D and tell her that I intend to pass this down to my daughter one day and hope that this gets passed down in her family.

Your team are doing a fantastic job. Thanks!!

Here is a picture of the quilt and laundry bag on my bed.

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Anna and I received two photos this week of a recipient with the quilt that she and I collaborated on.

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OMG! You ladies are absolutely fantastic. When I arrived back in Afghanistan from my leave, your quilt and laundry bag was waiting for me. It was a good pick me up after saying goodbye again to my wife and 2 year old son. I wasn't sure how you would combine Collingwood, Melbourne storm and batman but you nailed it. Special thanks go to the hard work of Kay Czocharan for my amazing quilt and to Dianne Thomas for my awesome laundry bag.  I have sent both you lovely ladies a little something from Afghanistan to say thank you, it was the least I could do. Thank you for the batman comics and newspaper articles, also thank you for the sweets. It was way too much and I am really appreciative, although I believe I don't deserve it. Thank you once again, you ladies are amazing.

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Hi Julie-Ann,

I want to thank you for the amazing laundry bag that you made for me! The talent that goes into something like this amazes me and I could not have been happier! 

When I opened the packaging and had the Wizards logo staring at me I was the happiest guy on the ship! Unfortunately my team didn't make the play-offs for the finals this year, but was still a great season. I began supporting them a few years ago when I was sent to the US for training and lived in Washington, Was a fantastic experience. But now we are onto the Rugby League Season and my Cronulla Sharks are doing so well I think this is our year!!

A little about myself, I was married to my beautiful wife only 2 weeks before we departed on our deployment, she is both working full time and raising my daughter (who is almost 3) and doing a great job at staying positive and happy! I look forward to getting home so we can finally take our overdue honeymoon! 

I hope your grandson had a fantastic birthday, He sounds quite a lot like my daughter, she watches "Frozen" everyday like clock work! So much that I think I could memorise every song!

Thank you again for you amazing laundry bag. It is people like you that make this job so much easier to do. Knowing that we have such great people that take the time, even when they don't have much,  to look after and support what we do warms my heart and gets me through the long hard days.

Kind regards,

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Greetings Dianne, Heather and Dot!

I hope this email finds you well.  I am writing to let you know that your twenty five finely crafted laundry bags have arrived safely here in the 'Top End'.  I wanted to thank you all for your hard work and the love that you have put into these bags which I am sure will each take on a personality of their own in the coming years.  I will be delivering them to the officers and sailors onboard HMAS Maryborough next week when they are alongside.  I can tell you from first hand experience that it is a heart warming experience to know that someone out there cares about what you are doing and the sacrifices that your making. 

Bless you all for your efforts - your making a difference in this world.

Faithfully yours,

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Greetings from the Top End!

I hope this email finds you well.  I am writing to thank you for your most excellent work in the crafting of the fifteen laundry bags for our officers and sailors onboard HMAS LARRAKIA.  They have all arrived safely and I will be delivering them next week to the crew when they are alongside.  I can't tell you how much it means to them to know that someone like yourselves is thinking of them and understands through personal experience with your son what it means to receive one of these bags.

I have a mental picture of you and Robin working together in the evenings to create these bags and it makes me smile.  Thank you for your dedication over the last three years and I pray for you to be blessed for your good hearts in this endeavour.

Yours faithfully,

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Dear Christine C,

Let me start by saying thank you very much, and that the poppy quilt you made for me is amazing, and I loved the laundry bag also!!  You mentioned in your letter that you hoped it is something like I envisioned, but I would have to say it is better than that!  I loved the detail on the back of the Aussie flag, and my name and dates.  It did arrive in time for Anzac Day too.  It was also very kind of you to send some extra goodies in the parcel.

I enjoyed reading your letter, and it seems we have some things in common.  I too am from Western Australia.

I grew up on a 5 acre property out the back of XXXX in the hills.  It is only recently that I have been posted back to Perth with the Army, and my husband and I just moved into the brand new house that we built last year.  I can’t wait to get home and spend some time in it.  We were only in it for 3 months when I had to leave, but at least I got to spend Christmas in it with my family.

Most of my family live in Perth including my Mum, my sister, my husband’s parents and his three brothers.  We plan on settling in Perth as we move on from Army life. I have completed 26 years (in fact my 26^th anniversary in the Army was while I was over here just a few weeks ago)  and my husband has served for over 33 years so we have almost 60 years of service between us!!

I notice you said you are near Pinjarra which also brought back some memories for me.  A number of years ago while I was on a previous posting to Perth, I took up golf with my Mum.  We went to play in the Pinjarra Open golf comp with a group of ladies from our club.  I was still very new to golf, but managed to come second and won myself a very nice camera which I have over here with me.

The weather over here is starting to get very hot (into the 40’s) and will continue to get hotter yet, which I’m not looking forward to. It will peak in about August which is when I am due to go home.

We get a lot of support over here from back home and are very lucky, but I also think it is admirable what your family does by volunteering in the local bushfire brigade.  I imagine in the height of the fire season it would be quite exhausting.

Your quilt has definitely brightened up my room.  It is greatly appreciated and will be treasured.

All the best to you and your family.

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Greetings Dianne, Heather and Dot!

I hope this email finds you well.  I am writing to let you know that your twenty five finely crafted laundry bags have arrived safely here in the 'Top End'.  I wanted to thank you all for your hard work and the love that you have put into these bags which I am sure will each take on a personality of their own in the coming years.  I will be delivering them to the officers and sailors onboard HMAS Maryborough next week when they are alongside.  I can tell you from first hand experience that it is a heart warming experience to know that someone out there cares about what you are doing and the sacrifices that your making. 

Bless you all for your efforts - your making a difference in this world.

Faithfully yours,

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Hello Gail,.

I just received the quilt and laundry bag you were kind enough to make for me.

When I received the package I had just arrived back in Kabul after spending a few weeks in Italy with my fiancé.  I had just left her in Dubai and was feeling a bit down after it, however it is safe to say the quilt and laundry bag were a big morale lift for me.  The other guys in my team get a bit of a pick me up from them when they arrive.

They supply us with laundry bags here, however my one hangs proudly on the wall above my bed space. It is really nice and of excellent quality as well.  Unfortunately the Newcastle Knights are not doing very well at the moment. 

I can understand the desire to get away from Sydney I have lived and worked in Sydney myself before I embarked on this career path and I never was one for crowded places.

Thank you very much for all the support rest assured it is appreciated by the whole team here in Afghanistan. I showed the Danish guys we work with the card you sent with the Bondi Beach photo on it. They said it looks like heaven.

Keep up the great work 

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Dear Bonnie,

I am a serving member of the Australian Defence Force.

I am currently deployed in the Middle East Region enjoying the lovely summer heading our way

(current daytime temp 45 degrees and getting hotter!)

One of my duties here is to coordinate orders to and from Australia through Aussie Hero Quilts.

I get to liaise often with Jan-Maree and find the job extremely rewarding.

Before arriving here I was unaware of the wonderful work that Aussie Hero Quilts do.

Since then I have come to understand and admire all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.                                                                                                                                                                     

More than that, I have seen many smiling faces enter my work area to receive their quilt/laundry bag and enjoy the good morale that comes with it.

I can’t stress enough how much the girls and guys over here appreciate your efforts.

Beyond giving them a little colour in an otherwise drab place, it also reinforces that people back home still remember and care about us.

You can’t put a price on that. Seriously!

As for myself, I managed to get one of your laundry bags :-)

It has some very colourful cartoons with grandparents as the centerpiece.

As a parent, I laughed quite a bit reading them!

Finally from all the team over here, a heartfelt THANK YOU!!!

Please continue to do what you do best.

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More happy messages tomorrow night.
Cheers from chilly but beautiful Canberra

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

Jan-Maree xx