Grati-Tuesday 19th November 2024

Written by AHQ

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19 November 2024

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Happy Tuesday Friends!

Wow we have really be inundated with lots of thank you’s lately. Please be patient as I work my way through them. It might take a few more weeks before you see yours come up. If I added them all into the blog it would take about an hour to read them all. LOL

As usual we have a great bunch of messages from near and far and awesome photos, so grab a cuppa, sit back and relax while you soak up some well-deserved gratitude.

Only 36 sleeps until Christmas Day.

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In the Grati-Blog on 22 Oct 24, we shared the thank you from a member of HMAS Adelaide who missed out on one of the laundry bags we had sent them. One of their fellow crew members gladly gave up their laundry bag instead.

Of course we were not going to let this offer of kindest go without being rewarded. Below is their thank you.

Good afternoon Bridget R,

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the beautiful laundry bag you created for me. The colours are exceptionally vibrant, featuring an abundance of green and yellow, which happen to be my two favourite kinds.

I am truly thankful to have received this unique laundry bag, particularly as it came as a delightful surprise.

LCDR XXX, I cannot adequately convey my appreciation for your thoughtful words and for coordinating this gift. I am immensely grateful and will always treasure it.

Thank you both again.

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Good afternoon Jan-Maree B & Susan J,

I would like to thank you and your team for my laundry bag, I love it and really appreciate the kind act.

I am about to deploy on OP Resolute and was actually needing to get myself a new laundry bag.

Thanks again!

Kind regards,

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Good evening Bridget R & Jan-Maree

I am as far from being a hero as you could imagine.

Yesterday, I was completely surprised and honoured to receive the quilt you presented to me at the Bella Vista Probus Club meeting. I feel proud and humble.

I want to express my deepest gratitude for the beautiful quilt. It is truly a masterpiece, and I am incredibly moved by the time, thought, and care that went into making it.

Your kindness in creating something personal and well-made has left a lasting impression. The quilt has a warmth beyond the fabric—something only kind hearts could bring to life.

It’s comforting to know there are people like you and Keryn M, with her embroidery skills, who honour the stories of veterans in such a meaningful way.

Please know that I appreciate your generosity and artistry. I will cherish this quilt always, not only as a reminder of my years in the Royal Australian Navy but also of your incredible kindness.

With heartfelt thanks and kind regards,

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Hi Jenny N,

I am in infantry in the 1128 Royal West Australian regiment.

My grandfather was a Anzac serving in the 25th rifle brigade NZ Army in WW1.

My partners great grandfather served with 28th Maori Battalion in WW2.

We have 2 children and live in a small town in Western Australia.

I have been in Army reserve since 2018 and love my job. The reason I got this washbag is because I am going on an Exercise overseas.

I have done two Operation Resolutes which are six-month deployments in Darwin on border patrol with Navy.

Thankyou for all the effort you put in its very much appreciated and wish you and your family a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

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Hi,

I am about to go overseas with the Army and just received one of your laundry bags. I love it. Thank you so much. I still remember my last overseas trip in 2018, and I received one of your laundry bags, I still use it and actually packed it for this trip and got a wonderful surprise when I was given another one.
Today everyone grabbed a laundry bag and enjoyed comparing the different unique patterns, even if you don’t receive an email from everyone that gets a laundry bag from you, I can tell you they appreciate it.
I didn’t get a personal letter, so I am just emailing it here, I’ve posted a photo of my bag below.
Thanks,

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Hello Friends @ AHQ,

I am a soldier in the Australian Army from Western Australia.

While packing my suitcase the one thing I was missing was a laundry bag. Today we got given your amazing laundry bags, which I must say are made so nicely with beautiful bright colours and with a drawstring, making my trips to the laundry room that little bit more vibrant and bubblier.

Thank you so much for looking after us by putting your time and effort into making our laundry bags. So much appreciated!

Hoping your day is awesome,

Thanking you and kind regards,

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Jan-Maree B,

On behalf of HMAS Adelaide, I extend my gratitude for your generous support of our Officers, Sailors and Embarked Forces, as we deploy for the final time for 2024. Adelaide is currently home to over 450 members, which will shortly grow to be around 1100 members, as we welcome a group of embarked forces to our Ship.

The opportunity to receive a wonderful custom laundry bag was met with great delight by everyone who received one. The laundry bags that you kindly donated to us, were placed on tables and the Ships Company were able to pick with bag they wanted and could find meaning with. All members were sincerely excited and most grateful to be able to have their own individual laundry bags. Every bag found a new home and are already being used in our laundry rooms on a daily basis.

Kind donations like these, boost the morale of our Officers, Sailors, Soldiers and Aviators as illustrated in the photos attached. Those handmade laundry bags demonstrated to them how much their service and sacrifice is valued, even by people who don’t know them.

I greatly appreciate your hard work as well as the work of the volunteers who gave up their time to craft these laundry bags. These bags have elevated the spirits of our personnel, and I know they will be valued and well used.

Yours sincerely,

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Hi Bridget R,

Just wanted to reach out and say thank you for the handmade laundry bag.

I’ll be using it on my upcoming deployment and many more in the future as well.

Keep up the great work, it is very much appreciated by myself and all who receive these gifts of kindness.

Many thanks

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Hi Robyn P,

I wanted to say thank you so much for my Aussie Hero Quilt and the choccy treats!

I really appreciate the thought and design you put in my quilt; it’s so much more meaningful than I imagined! I’m grateful for your time and effort and support.

I’m sorry to hear about your husband, but it sounds like he’s having a good time with the footy! As a Swans supporter I’ll have to begrudge him his win haha.

I love travelling too and I’d like to get to Morocco one day soon; I can imagine how different that would have been travelling as a woman through the Middle East 20 years ago.

I think I’ll have missed the wattle bloom by the time I get home, but it was nice to be reminded of it 🙂

Thank you for your support, the amazing quilt, your letter and of course the snacks too!

Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year,

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Hi Lisa N,

I would like to say thank you very much for making my Melbourne Storm quilt. The colours look great, purple was historically the Engineer/Stoker colour within the Navy and the quilt is quite fittingly placed within my cabin!

Thank you also for the purple pastilles and Storm socks, hopefully it all brings luck for the Grand Final this weekend!!

Kind Regards

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Hi Lisa N,

I received your quilt through the mail the other week and love it. I’d been out on a boat for a few weeks and getting back on base to have it in the mail waiting felt like Christmas. The little extras in it were much appreciated too, I can’t imagine where you found the Banana lolly smelling air freshener (which has been handy living with others) and I live on coffee so the mug was a great addition and it made it in one piece! I shared the lollies with a few others here who didn’t have any and they all also appreciated them.

I liked the theme of minions and the ‘little guy’ who makes everything happen, in all the movies and books the main events never happen without the quiet sidekick in the background e.g. the minions, Sam in Lord of the rings, Mater in Cars or Dory in Finding Nemo. Every time I look at my bed I find a panel on the quilt I didn’t notice before and have a laugh. I’m still trying to decide the best bit, today I’m leaning towards the Egyptian minions or maybe the dinosaur. The quilt adds so much colour to a drab room and when I finally get home I’ve got plans for it to live in my lounge room as both a reminder and because it will be pretty cool to have on my lounge for everyone to see and ready for cold nights. It might even come with me on future travels.

I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into making the quilt and sending it to someone you don’t even know.

Kind Regards,

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Hello Colleen S,

I received the quilt you made for me last week. Thank you so much!! I honestly am blown away at what you have done and how you have created something that is just so amazing and so aligned to ‘me’. The funny thing is, I put in the details on the request form but didn’t really mind too much what the end product was like. I couldn’t imagine how it would be and thought some of the things I requested would be too specialised – like the Wagon Wheel and the RACT and the letters/ mail. And yet you have put so much thought in the quilt and it is so ‘right’ for me.

I honestly had tears in my eyes opening the parcel and seeing what you had done. I know you thought it was a bit late, but I wasn’t expecting anything until maybe December or January. So I got a real surprise when the postie delivered it.

I imagine a lot of planning and time goes into making and finishing a quilt. The fabric with the correspondence on it (on the back of the quilt) is so awesome. And what you have done on the front with my details and images relating to my service / request and the colours of the quilt are all just spot on. I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s really special to hear about the quilt travelling to Canberra and being on display, too.

Thank you for your time and effort in making the quilt for me. I treasure it already and will keep it always.

Thank you for your letter also, sharing about your life and service history. You have had an interesting life and lots of different experiences. I’m sure you’ve touched a lot of lives and positively impacted the community with the various roles you’ve undertaken. Now you are retired and have your family and grandchildren to spend time with. How very special.

Thanks again Colleen, I am so grateful that you volunteer your time and skills to this initiative. I only learned about AHQ when reading some documents from the recent Royal Commission. I have had a long road with mental health challenges and this was a bright spot of my year.

Kindest regards and much gratitude,

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We recently sent some random laundry bags to HMAS Waller!