Hey there everyone,
This is a tough time for all of us but I am heartened by the good stories that are starting to surface about compassion, humanity, kindness and generosity. We can get through this if we stick together, figuratively speaking.
Have you reached out to someone yet, let someone know you are thinking about them? Sometimes a word of kindness can make all the difference. I encourage you to give it a try.
But for now... grab a cuppa and enjoy some of these messages
.....
From Fires to floods and now COVID-19 we hope you and your team stay safe and don’t risk becoming ill for the sake of a quilt (an awesome, and amazing quilt). Your health and safety is paramount to us, and if a pause has to occur then we will all concur!
.....
Hi Ann,
I am writing to thank you for the very kind gift of Laundry
Bags.
These will be distributed to our servicemen and servicewomen
here in the Middle East, who all do such a great job.
These gifts provide us with such a valuable reminder that we
are remembered back home in Australia.
I have been working here for a number of months and am
hoping to return home in a few weeks’ time.
What a different world we live in now with Coronavirus!
Please thank your friends also for their kindness and
dedication.
Kind Regards,
.....
Hi Jenny,
I have received the great quilt you made for me and just
wanted to say thank you! Thank you also for the letter, it was nice to hear
from you.
I appreciate the work you have put in to making it, and it
is something I will keep forever as it will remind me of my time here overseas.
A lot of people here have been receiving the quilts and
laundry bags from the kind Aussie Hero Quilters, and they are all very pleased
with the work you all do and the great designs.
Thanks again, and keep up the great work!
.....
Good Morning Pennie,
I wanted to write to you personally to thank you very much
for the laundry bag and care package. I really do appreciate the effort you
have put in to the laundry bag, and it will definitely be a welcome replacement
to my current one. I also very much appreciate the amount of work that would of
gone into making such a lovely bag.
I am the Deputy Electrical Engineer on board HMAS Toowoomba.
A demanding but very rewarding position onboard.
My mother was also a nurse, in fact all my immediate family
are from the medical field. I can appreciate being an ER nurse would be very
demanding, especially with the news of the pandemic that has caught the world
off-guard (stretching the already thin resources of an ER). My praise and well
wishes go out to you also! On that note, thank you for the hand sanitising
wipes they will actually come in quite useful. I am due to fly through the Middle
East Region then to Australia in the near future.
At home (WA) I have a lovely family, wife, 3 children, two
dogs and a cat. I enjoy outdoor activities such as fishing, sport and
exercising. I grew up in Melbourne so I don’t see my family too often, so we
love to go on a holiday to Port Douglas once a year to catch up. I actually
have some French relatives (2nd cousins), but regrettably I do not
speak the language.
Again, thank you very much for your ongoing support and
kindness.
.....
Dear
Georgina
I
have just received the amazing quilt you made for me. I have shown my family
via skype and we just wanted to say how impressed we are with your skill and
wanted to thank you for this keepsake. This deployment has and continues to be
a difficult one for us and it means so very much to know that people support us
and show their support in the way you have done. Please accept my thanks to you
and your family.
Kind
regards and best wishes
.....
Hi Ruth,
I would like to thank you for my laundry bag that you had
made for me, it has made my day, especially with all that has been happening
lately.
I know a lot of time and effort goes into these bags and us
soldiers appreciate this very much. It is nice to have a laundry bag that
is not like the others, and I will definitely not lose it!!
I hope all is well with you and your family back in
Australia (I am not looking forward to returning home to all of the chaos
associated with the corona virus)
537 is a lot of laundry bags too!!
Again Ruth, thank you very much.
Kind Regards,
.....
Dear Donna,
I am writing to sincerely thank you for the Adelaide Crows
laundry bag that you made such an awesome job of. The colours are perfect and
it looks fantastic. Thank you also for the scarf, lollies and the date bites.
The dates were gone in about half an hour! The scarf and laundry bag brighten
up my room and give it just a little bit more of a homely feel.
To tell you a bit about myself I actually live in Richmond
NSW when I’m not over here. I have only been there 2 years, I am originally
from Adelaide (obviously). I have done a fair bit of exploring and must agree
that there are certainly some lovely areas out that way.
I actually had a few visits to Castlereagh Imaging in both
Windsor and Penrith recently and will say that I was always well looked after!
Nothing serious but a few visits none the less.
We are definitely well supported over here. I am looking
forward to getting home though, about 6 weeks left for me now.
Well thanks once again and take care
.....
Dear Susan,
I would like to thank you for the amazing laundry bag, all I
can say is I love it!
We get mail once a week here and while I opened your parcel
I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I enjoyed the cheeky snacks you
put in there as well. I love the colours that are in the laundry bag and
the way you designed it. I did a little bit of sewing while I was at
school so I can appreciate all the hard work you put into my bag as well as the
many others you have crated.
A little about myself, I am 20
years old and have been in the RAAF for 2 years. I grew up riding horses and playing polocrosse. We would ride through the
paddocks just before dark and I would always admire the sunsets. My
Grandparents have a coast house in NSW where we would go
water-skiing and walks along the beach and its sounds silly to say at my age
but this laundry bag brings back amazing memories of my childhood and how
thankful I am for the life I have lived. So thank you!
May you please thank your sister for the beautiful poppy
pin.
Kind Regards,
.....
Hi Toni
Thank you so much for creating my Collingwood Laundry Bag
Tommy Little is great. I never knew he was a Pie’s
supporter too! Working in Disability Care must be
tough
but very rewarding.
Hope your Son is enjoying his time in the Air Force.
I doubt I could persuade him to change sides
and join the Army.
I too am an avid gardener. I am posting to Canberra
soon
so will need to start my veggie garden again from
scratch.
Apologies for the late reply.
I was sent forward to Afghanistan and did not know
your return address.
Thanks again
.....
.....
.....
Dear Lesley,
Thank you so much for the laundry bag! You have done an
amazing job with it, It really looks fantastic and I couldn’t be more grateful
for the time and effort you must have put into it. The snacks were a lovely
(and delicious) surprise and a very great treat seeing as though I had run out
of all the goodies that I had brought with me.
It’s really amazing that your son was good mates with Zac
Smith, he was one of my favourite players at the Suns and I was lucky enough to
get a photo with him a few years ago in Cairns when they were
playing their annual game up there a year against Richmond. I was pretty
excited to see him back at the Suns this year after a few years away south
playing for Geelong.
I very much appreciate what you and the other volunteers at
AHQ are doing for us while we are away. I have seen some of the other laundry
bags that the other guys have received and all seem to be so expertly made!
There is not many greater feelings than receiving a care package full of treats
and a personal item made for us while we are away, it felt very moving it
really helps us feel appreciated while we are out here away from home.
I wish you, your family all the best
for the future, especially during what we’re seeing on the news every day about
Coronavirus. I hope you all manage to stay safe and unaffected by everything
that is currently going on. Best of luck for everything that the future brings
and once again, thanks again for everything you and the AHQ team do for all of
us out here, we all appreciate it so much!
With thanks and
warm regards,
PS. Disregard the
West Coast Eagles picture in the background of my photo, it isn’t mine and
every day I aspire to have it taken down.
Dear Robyn,
I hope this email finds you and Michael well. I wanted to
send you an email of my sincerest thanks for my laundry bag that I received
whilst at sea on HMAS Hobart recently.
I am an engineer in the Royal
Australian Navy. I joined the RAN almost 11 years ago, fresh from school in
Tasmanian. Since then I have lived all over Australia and I currently live in
Sydney with my wife. For now I am ashore but from next year I commence a 2 year
posting to sea on HMAS Sydney.
I was so greatful to receive your gift whilst at sea last
week, its colours certainly broke up the usual Navy grey and added a smile to
my face and some joy to my day! I received your gift whilst on the way back to
Sydney from a trip away and it certainly made that trip home a little easier.
It means a lot to me and my fellow service men and woman
that we have your support and I sincerely thank you for talking the time out of
your day to make us a gift like this.
I hope you and Michael had a wonderful trip to Canberra and
enjoyed the activities and dinner. I think it is great that you all meet yearly
to celebrate the amazing people contributing to this initiative. Please pass on
my thanks to all those who participate when you next see them!
I hope the effects of the bushfires earlier this year and
the recent spread of the virus has not negatively impact you or your loved
ones. Please keep safe and look after yourselves in these difficult times.
Finally, thankyou again for my lovely gift!
Regards,
......
Good
Evening Jenny.
I
would like to express my absolute gratitude to you for my wonderful gift.
As
our team were handed our personalised laundry bags, I literally fought back
tears. I was moved that beautiful people such as yourself would spend such time
and effort on total strangers.
No
amount of words could express how I felt as I unwrapped your gift, but please
accept my thanks. I am completely humbled.
God
bless you as you continue this amazing work.
Stay
safe in the current conditions and have an incredible week.
......
Dear Roz,
Thank you so much for making my quilt. To say I am over
the moon with it is a massive understatement! The colours and embroidered poem
are exactly what I wanted, but its smaller detail that you have included which
makes it absolutely wonderful.
The inclusion of the indigenous artwork fabric is such a
fantastic aspect of the quilt. My posting to Darwin, and the time spent
travelling the north of Australia during it, has given me an insight into
indigenous culture and my family and I are learning more about it all the time.
I love the windmill! When I drive around Australia with
my kids, we have a competition to see who can count the most windmills. It is
just something to pass the time, but having it on the quilt reminded me of
those car trips and the fun that we had on them.
The back of the quilt probably spoke to me the most. I
didn’t mention it, but when I return my family and I are taking six months off
and driving around Australia. There is a pretty good chance we will drive past
many of the road signs that are on the fabric. The fact you didn’t know that,
but included it in the quilt is absolutely amazing.
I cannot begin to thank you enough for the time and
effort you put in to making the quilt. It is one of the most thoughtful gifts I
have ever received and I will treasure it.
The Army is a small place, so I am sure I will run into
you sometime in our future careers. I look forward to meeting you.
Yours sincerely,.....
Dear Sue,
Thank you for my lovely quilt! I'm a Leading Aircraftwoman
in the Royal Australian Air Force. I'm 27 years old, posted to Brisbane
originally from Darwin.
I also have a very spoilt kitty! I will treasure my
quilt and wanted to thank you for your time and effort and beautiful handiwork.
I absolutely adore it!
Thank you very much,
......
Hi Bridget,
Thank you very much for the Quilt! It is awesome and lies on my bed at all times! I have attached a photo of myself and the quilt from ‘Aussie House’ in Arifjan, Kuwait. The quilt is everything I hoped for and more! Helicopters, Footy, Beer. The three things I love doing that I couldn’t access on this deployment!
It has been an interesting deployment so far, and has been tough feeling powerless watching the news of home. From fires to floods and now COVID-19 we track it all closely and hope everyone is staying safe!
The quilts and laundry that you and the AHQ team make bring a lot of joy to everyone over here, and make other nations very jealous! They remind us that there are people back home who care about us while overseas on operations that often seem forgotten by the general public.
Thank you very much for your quilt and support to AHQ and the ADF!
Till next time... keep stitching and please, STAY SAFE.
Awesome!
ReplyDelete