Since Australians stormed the shores of Gallipoli, small care packages sent from home to Australian Defence Force personnel have been making a big difference to the lives of men and women serving overseas.
And sometimes, they can even forge close friendships between strangers that will never meet.
For HMAS Toowoomba weapons electrical engineering officer Lieutenant Commander Darcy Cook, the Christmas package he received from Goodstart Mangerton Child Care Centre on the NSW south coast provided such comfort that he decided to respond.
"I was deployed to the Middle East over the Christmas of 2021, and all the deployed service members throughout the Middle East region received care packages from all around Australia, addressed simply to an Australian soldier," Lieutenant Commander Cook said.
"I started writing back to say 'thank you for the care package, thank you for thinking of us, it's greatly appreciated', and then I got another letter back, and it started this relationship between myself and the children at Goodstart."
From that point on, Lieutenant Commander Cook has become the unofficial 'adopted serviceman' for the preschool students at Goodstart Mangerton, who never fail to check in.
"Twice a year I get a little care package sent to me still from the children, one on Anzac Day and one on Remembrance Day. They send me a letter to let me know what they're doing for those commemorative days," Lieutenant Commander Cook said.
In the last letter the students received, the 'eagle-eyed' preschoolers in Mangerton noticed a small but significant detail on Lieutenant Commander Cook's uniform.
This inspired them to create a special gift for the entire Toowoomba crew to open while on their regional presence deployment in South-East and East Asia.
"With this care package the kids noticed in a previous photo I sent that we all wear patches on our uniform. So, they got together and created their own patches for us to wear," Lieutenant Commander Cook said.
'I think they understand just how long we spend at sea and how long we spend away from our own families, so these small gifts that we get make such a huge difference.'
Lieutenant Commander Cook unveiled the small gesture to the crew about a month after departure, bringing warm tidings from home.
"I'm not surprised at the level of excitement everyone has had receiving these. It's something different in our day that we can do. By putting the patches on, we all got to think a bit more about home and everyone who is supporting us out here," he said.
He hoped this lesson would show that even the 'smallest' people can make a giant impact in the lives of service people with a simple act of support and kindness.
"I'd like to hope they know how grateful we all are. I think they understand just how long we spend at sea and how long we spend away from our own families, so these small gifts that we get make such a huge difference," Lieutenant Commander Cook said.
Centre Director at Goodstart Mangerton Tricia Doyle echoed this sentiment, and reaffirmed this as the reason they became involved with the Defence Force Christmas Package program all those years ago.
"We wanted to encourage the children to think of others at Christmas time and engage in the gift of giving - with the idea that kindness is good for everyone, those being kind and those receiving kindness," Ms Doyle said.
She added that the continual contact with Lieutenant Commander Cook over the years for key commemorative events has seen the centre establish an Honour Roll, where preschoolers can bring in information about members of their own families who've served, and the children make their own wreath to take and lay at local public services.
"The children create a monument every Anzac and Remembrance Day where we print out an updated Honour Roll each year to include new families to the centre, to stick on to our monument," Ms Doyle said.
As Toowoomba continues on her mission far away from home, the crew is eager to thank their new 'best little mates' for making the days away that little bit easier.
"Thank you so much to all the children at Goodstart Mangerton for the patches and all the gifts you've sent myself over the years. Thank you so much for thinking of us. We hope you enjoy our letters and enjoy the photos that we send back of the patches," Lieutenant Commander Cook said.
