Grati-Tuesday 20th June 2023

 

Happy Tuesday Friends!

Some great photo's this week, as well as fabulous letters, as always. 

The gratitude shown in these letters just shows us how meaningful a quilt and laundry bag can be!!!

Grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy some well deserved gratitude!

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Hello Jan-Maree,

I wanted to thank your team, especially to Kerrie B, Pennie T and Bridget R for your beautiful work in making the quilt which I am very honoured to receive.

I was surprised to receive it as I was visiting my son and we both received a quilt.

Many thanks and keep up the great work you are all doing.

Regards 

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Dear Sue-Ellen S,

Thank you so much for the excellent quilt you have gifted me. I was at sea for 10 weeks and it was a very nice "Welcome Back to Australia" package when I returned. Comparatively, the operation I just returned from was far less taxing than every previous operation. Both Bushfire Assist and NSW Flood Assist were difficult in their respective ways but were nothing compared to those directly impacted.

My mother, whilst not into quilting, loves her arts and crafts, so much so that she has a very large room dedicated to her hobby in her house.

Please pass on my thanks to the volunteers who provide the embroidery. The quilt exceeded my expectations and I quickly showed your piece to close friends and family. It is easy to get caught only thinking about the future but your lovely quilt will make me take a moment to pause and reflect upon my past Defence experiences. I wish you and your family good luck and please know I am grateful for your time and effort in both the quilt and your nice letter.

Kind Regards.....

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To Barbara D,

Thank you so much for your amazing work and commitment in making the quilt and laundry bag. Your support is very much appreciated. I absolutely love it.

It has been an amazing experience over here and one I am very lucky to have been afforded. It is very far from the lifestyle and culture we know in Australia, but this whole region has such a vast and unique history. 

Where I am stationed there is a lot of hotels and resorts so it is not as scarce as other places I have been too. I have also been lucky enough to have travelled other places since being here as well.

Thanks again for you help and your amazing work. I wish you all the best.

Kind Regards...

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Good Morning Ann S,

 

I only just returned to my ship today and was able to grab my mail which to my delight was the wonderful Penrith Panthers Laundry bag you made!

 

Thank you so much for your lovely letter as well, I appreciate what you do and provide to our defence force – surprisingly, finding laundry bags are so difficult so what you provide is of such a big importance!

 

Firstly, I would like to also acknowledge your dads service for our country, they were the golden generation and came together to fight and win during WW2. I love to spend my time on ANZAC day talking to our elderly servicemen and woman and learning about their history and what they accomplished. It makes me so proud to know I too am serving like they once did and hope that we can make them just as proud. Your dads legacy will never be forgotten. I am from a family that’s full of ex-defence force personnel from my grandparents to my dad and many of my cousins. It is very special to me to serve this great nation, we are indeed the greatest country in the entire world.

 

A little bit about myself – 

I am twenty eight years old. I have been a diehard Penrith fan my entire life. You can just imagine how I felt after winning two grand finals in a row, hopefully we can get another one this year! I originally went to university first before joining the military, but knew the military was the only thing I wanted to do, considering most of my family has served. I joined up as an Acoustic Warfare Sailor on Submarines before transitioning to the surface fleet. My current job role is Electronic Warfare and I am a Leading Seaman. I’ve served for 7 years so far. I am looking at serving for a few more years to get to the magic number of 10 before I transition out of the military to spend more time with my girlfriend and hopefully lead down the pathway of a family soon so I can experience that wonderful time in life and give my parents grandchildren so they can be just as proud of them as you are to yours. We are about to become a family of three though very soon, but a furchild! We have got a Golden Retriever called Houston waiting to be cleared for us to be picked up very soon!

 

Thank you once again for the lovely laundry bag, when I came back to my work area, everyone could tell how thrilled I was with it. It is such great quality and it will be with me for the rest of my life, I will always cherish it. I love the design and the added names of the current players as well as mine on it. My words could never thank you enough. I am traveling to America in September for my best friend’s wedding for a month and I will be bringing this with me so I can conduct laundry and show off my laundry bag to everyone!.

 

I hope you have a great rest of the year and have good health,

 

Thank you so much again, 

...

Dear Jan-Maree and Aussie Hero Quilt Support Team,

I am overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and generosity of the Aussie Hero Quilt team to donate their time and skill to create and produce the Quilts for distribution to serving and returned service people. I received my Quilt along with other recipients from the Vietnam War era were surprised and overwhelmed with the generosity.

Thank You wholeheartedly and will be visiting your website donation page shortly!

Regards

...

Good afternoon Kathy W,

 

I am writing to thank you for the quilt you made for me. I have just got a chance to see the quilt a few days ago on my arrival home.

 

I wasn't so sure about the aeronautical theme either to be honest. I think perhaps it was suggested in EOI email but regardless you certainly nailed the theme. The whole thing is very well planned and nicely put together. My partner who has absolutely no interest in aircraft has taken such a liking to it she has placed it pride of place in our living room.

 

You have done an excellent job and although I am no expert, it is plain to see you have quite a talent. I can guarantee you that it will be well looked after for years to come and very much appreciate the time and effort you put into producing it. It really shows you cannot beat the quality of handmade items!

 

I hope you continue to make quilts as I know I certainly have appreciated your efforts and I hope other members can be future beneficiary of your talents.

 

Best wishes to you and your husband and once again thank you for the nice surprise.

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Gday Aussie Hero quilts! 

Emailing to let you know my little package arrived. Thank you so much! I’ll send a separate email to my hero but I wanted to give some appreciation to the outstanding organisation. It is such a thoughtful piece that makes even the harshest environments feel like home. Thank you again, it’s absolutely gorgeous! 

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Pennie T,

Thank you so much for the quilt you have made for me and for my colleagues. You have done an excellent job of working with vague guidance to work your creative magic into a piece of art. I also appreciate the addition of camels and your association with them. I too have had many fond interactions with camels (mainly in Australia) but also over here. They are impressive and hardy animals.

During my time over here, I have been very blessed to have been able to go exploring to magical places. seeing the history and culture was amazing. There was so much to see.

When I first got the quilt I was excited to show my wife (Also a fellow quilter, though not nearly as expedient!).

Once again, thank you for the time, energy and thought you put into the quilt. It has certainly added some character to my otherwise boring (and very bachelor like) room.

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Hello Ruth

 

I would like to thank you for the West Coast Eagles laundry bag it was awesome, not that my Richmond supporter who bunks in the same room would say.

 

I have been in now for 36 years posted across the whole of Australia and twice to SA, and within a few more years retiring from the Army in QLD.

 

I currently live in Sydney with my family still in Brisbane, we have four daughter and one son. We are grandparents to our beautiful granddaughter who has all my wife’s attention.  

 

As for my current indiscretion of being a West Coast Eagles supporter, I have been since they first entered into the AFL and yes this year must be the worst that the teams has ever had and I would hate to be the coach now.

 

As for SA I was there in the Late 80s and again in mid-2000 and seen the creation of Adelaide Crows form, then there reserve team  Port Adelaide J.

 

Anyway it’s been good to see them doing so great this year and hope they are in the final as I would like to see a grand final with no Victorian teams.

 

Anyway Take care

 

And thanks very much

 

Kind regards

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Recently we made some laundry bags to be given to students on the Army Indigenous development program, as well as a bag for each of the staff members. If you've not heard of this fabulous program before, it takes disadvantaged young men and women and puts them through a 17 week program that in most cases gives them the opportunity to join the full time Army. 

We are told that the students and staff were absolutely thrilled by with their laundry bags as you can see by the photo below. 

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Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in.  

Tuesday's would be so totally boring without them!

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