Grati-Tuesday 18 jun 19

Hi all

Some great thank you messages this week... enjoy!

Received my quilt yesterday! Thank you so much to Marilyn, Chris and Kay for their hard work. It went straight on the bed (after I showed it off to everybody of course) I love it!. Thank you!!!

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Hi Irene,

 I want to start by saying, yes this blanket far exceeded my expectations too (you should have seen how happy I was when I opened it). A while after making my request for the blanket I saw some of the others arriving I realised I may have asked for too much. Even when I was told my blanket was on its way I still didn’t know what to expect, but oh my gosh, it is absolutely amazing. I really appreciate what you have done here for me and can see the level of detail you have gone to and the love that has been put in. I proudly took it around the ship showing other people. When I go to car shows it will take pride of place on the back seat of the car. 

So about my job. My core job is to manage the daily programming for the maintenance of our Seahawk helicopter and I conduct this with a group of  maintainers, we call it a flight. As Ballarat is a mining town, the aircraft's name is Gold digger. I find this a very rewarding job as I have a big part in ensuring out aircraft can get out every day and search for suspicious boats for the ship to investigate.  I have been in the Navy for 18 years this year and currently and have had many great adventures. I am currently planning to leave after 20 years to move onto something else and start a new chapter.

My Family. I have been married for 13 years and have been with my wife for 18 years. We have two children together, an 11yo boy, and 8yo girl. We also have a Husky and her name is Kyah. We have been working toward building our own home for a long time now and ironically it is now over a year old and I have only lived in it for 2 months. I am really looking forward to getting back there to enjoy it with them.

 And me. I grew up in Tasmania with a younger sister and brother. I rode BMX, went rock climbing and Kayaking worked at a service station on weekends. I joined the Navy at 18 and have never regretted it. I love the environment, the ocean and tinkering on cars old or new. I am part of a movement called Take 3 where we encourage people to just take 3 pieces of rubbish with them whenever they go to a beach, park or anywhere really. I currently like to go stand up paddle boarding in the surf, I find it works well for me as I can see the kids playing on the shore while I am in the surf. As for the cars, they have just always been a part of my life and I like the satisfaction of working on and rebuilding them.

Once again, thank you very much for taking on the challenge of my request. It really does mean a lot to all of us out here when we receive them.

Serving you proudly,

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Marilyn,

Good morning from ‘chilly’ Townsville in what is meant to be Tropical North Queensland!

First and foremost, thank you so very much for the Laundry Bag and wonderful letter, both of which were passed to me a week or so back.

The laundry bag is very well made and will last for many years to come, without doubt.

Secondly, on behalf of everyone else in the ADF who has received your very personal contribution over the past four years, accept my heartfelt thanks on their behalf. You were very correct in your letter referring to a boost in morale.

I have been serving in the Army since 1985. I am an Infantry Officer, who unlike the majority, started my career as a young soldier. I progressed through the enlisted ranks until 2004, at which time I accepted a Commission.

I have served overseas in East Timor, Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan.

I enjoy Service life, and expect I will continue to serve for several years yet.

Again, thank you for your support to ADF personnel. Your contribution is important, and does in fact increase morale for the recipients of your work.

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Good evening Clarissa,

My Aussie Hero quilt has arrived and I love it. The theme of Army, Artillery, Broncos and QLD Reds is perfect and I will always cherish it and it will be a highlight of my deployment. The quilt will remind me of all the good points/experiences of this deployment. As Jan-Maree did also, it was also good to learn about the women (yourself) that support Aussie Hero Quilts. The group of ladies that makes up Aussie Hero quilts are remarkable and thank you to all the ladies for giving up their time voluntary to give the servicemen and women who are deployed a small reminder that there are people back home that care and appreciate the service they give. Please pass on my thanks and best wishes to the entire team.

Due to your kind heart, I can forgive that you are an NSW Rugby Union supporter. I must admit it has been hard being a Reds supported over the last decade. We have only really had one good year. The rugby community is a great community to be involved in and I grew up supporting GPS Rugby which my dad played A grade for over many years. I too played rugby growing up however I didn't continue playing when I went to Uni. I played a bit of rugby during my Army career but a broken hand and deployments pretty much put an end to any real rugby career with Army.

Once again thank you very much for the quilt. Please pass on my thanks to the team and a special thanks to Jan-Maree for me. I hope she is kicking goals in her recovery.

All the best.

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Gail 

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Hi Ruth,

I just wanted to write you an email to say thank you very much for my laundry bag. It’s so generous of you, and made me feel very special!

When we first got here in February it was FREEZING cold with snow every day. Now, it’s pretty warm so it’s going to be interesting when it gets to summer time. We are very, very busy at the moment – but at least its making the time go quickly ☺

I fly home for a 2 week holiday with my wife and 2 dogs, so I'm really looking forward to that.
Thanks again so much for your gift – I really appreciate it.

Thanks,
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Jan,

First may I offer my gratitude to receiving a handmade Aussie Hero laundry bag. Secondly, I must offer my apologies for not being a genuine Aussie Hero but instead a British Royal Navy officer on exchange with the Royal Australian Navy.  I am genuinely touched by the sentiment behind the organisation who have built up, and if I can speak for my shipmates onboard HMAS Leeuwin, they all feel the same.

To provide some context, I am 21 months into a 2 year exchange onboard HMAS Leeuwin, a Hydrographic Survey Ship, based out of HMAS Cairns.  Having served 20 odd years in the RN,  I am currently learning new ways of doing business!

We are currently deployed and the laundry bag is doing its job nicely.

Please keep up the good work.

Yours Aye,

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Dear Anne

Thank you so much for the beautiful quilt that you made for me!  I sadly did not receive it till I was back home, but it was a wonderful surprise once I arrived back at my home unit.

 I am a medic in the RAAF and was deployed as part of a small team to a base in the Middle East.  It was a long but very rewarding six months away from home.

It means the world to me and the other deployed members that you and others put so much care and effort into making these incredibly personalised quilts for us.

Now that I am home it will serve as a momento of one of the most challenging and valuable experiences of my life.

Thank you again   xx
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Dear Liz,

I write to you whilst onboard the aircraft returning me to Australia.  I have been in transit for a couple of day following several months in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Thank you for the laundry bag, it looks fantastic and worked well during the last month or so.  The postage is slightly delayed, but I was fortunate enough to receive it in the 2^nd week of March.   Thank you for your generous work with Aussie Hero Quilts, I can speak for the small team I worked with and say we were all very impressed by the quality of the quilts and laundry bags we were made.  It was an unusual but joyful feeling to get mail whilst deployed, it’s not a very common thing back home.

I am returning to my fiancé in Melbourne and my family from Victoria.  After a short period of leave we will be relocating, as I have been posted to a new job.  I am a RAEME Aeronautical Engineering Officer and will be working in the management of the CH-47F Chinook fleet.  In Kabul my job was also within the aviation field.  I worked within the train advise assist command air team as the maintenance operations officer of the 440^th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron.  My position allowed me to interact with the Afghan Air Force maintenance workforce on a daily basis.  This was a fantastic opportunity.    Working with and for our coalition partners was also a great experience, they are very similar in mindset to Australian maintenance personnel.

Thank you for the letter and the introduction to your family.  

I will finish by saying thank you again for not only my laundry bag, but all the others you have made and will make in the future.  You do a great thing for our deployed men and women and we appreciate it.

All the best to you,

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Good Afternoon Ellen,

I have received the amazing quilt and laundry bag that made for me. I absolutely love it - Thank You so much. The music theme is perfect along with the colours. It really brightened up my room. My deployment is coming to an end this week and I look forward to having the quilt as a reminder of my time here. The laundry bag will always come in handy for when ever I am away from home.

Kind Regards 
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Till next time.... 
Keep spreading the word and happy stitching!

Jan-Maree xx