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Speaker 1: I did get a message a couple of weeks ago

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Speaker 1: from a listener about a fantastic campaign which is kicked off.

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Speaker 1: It's called Operation Secret Center Aged Care nt It sounds

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Speaker 1: like a wonderful campaign. And joining me on the line

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Speaker 1: to tell me a bit more about it is the

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Speaker 1: organizer Tory Star.

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Speaker 2: Hi, Tory, Hello, how are you?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Really good? Great to have you on the show.

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Speaker 1: Tory tell me what exactly is Operation Secret Center Aged

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Speaker 1: Care NTA.

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Speaker 2: What's it all about?

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Speaker 3: It's pretty simple. We try to offer a Christmas gift

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Speaker 3: to every age care recipient in the Northern Territory. So

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Speaker 3: we've been running it since twenty sixteen. I started just

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Speaker 3: in the Dahn Palmerston region with about two hundred and

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Speaker 3: thirty presents in the first year, and in twenty twenty

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Speaker 3: week expanded it out to try and cover the entire

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Speaker 3: Northern Territory, which is about twelve hundred gifts.

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Speaker 2: So about twelve hundred gifts. So is it is it?

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Speaker 2: Just talk me through it?

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Speaker 1: Like? So?

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Speaker 2: Is it just considering age care facilities?

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Speaker 3: So we have all the major age care facilities and

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Speaker 3: then we also have those in remote areas where the

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Speaker 3: regional councils actually run the age care program for the

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Speaker 3: participants in the communities as well.

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Speaker 1: Tory, what made you decide to kick this off all

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Speaker 1: those years ago?

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Speaker 3: My grandmother was in age care for a long time

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Speaker 3: in Queensland and we didn't get over there as much

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Speaker 3: as we would have liked to have been able to.

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Speaker 3: And I think anyone who's had loved ones in age

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Speaker 3: care facilities, they can be a pretty lonely place. And

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Speaker 3: in twenty sixteen, I found myself on maternity League and

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Speaker 3: my two eldest kids had gone away with family bootsness,

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Speaker 3: so I was kind of a little bit lost finding

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Speaker 3: something to do with myself. And I saw an idea

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Speaker 3: on Facebook and I thought, oh, I'm sure I can

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Speaker 3: take that and make it something up here. So I thought,

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Speaker 3: you know what. The first of December that year, I

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Speaker 3: decided I was going to deliver some Christmas presents to

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Speaker 3: the nursing homes, not realizing that it was going to

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Speaker 3: take two hundred and thirty three to get it across

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Speaker 3: the line. And I was still shopping right up until Christmas,

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Speaker 3: even at home wrapping those presents to get them over

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Speaker 3: the line that year. So and then I said to

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Speaker 3: my other half I'm never doing this again. And we

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Speaker 3: got to the last nursing home on Christmas Eve, right

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Speaker 3: on dark and when the staff opened the door to

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Speaker 3: accept the presence, they said that nothing else had been

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Speaker 3: organized that year for the residents of that home. So

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Speaker 3: I got back into the car and said the mother half, all,

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Speaker 3: now we're going to have to do it all over

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Speaker 3: again next year.

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Speaker 2: That is absolutely incredible. So thisiate your twelve.

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Speaker 1: Hundred presents is what you is what you need to organize?

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Speaker 2: How do you get all the presents every year?

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Speaker 3: Donations? So we have a go fundme page which is

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Speaker 3: up on the Facebook page Operation Secret Plan at Age

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Speaker 3: Care and t so we can take monetary donations. We

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Speaker 3: also can take physical donations of new new items. Mary

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Speaker 3: Claire Boosi member for Brennan, her office will collect physical donations.

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Speaker 3: We don't have a drop off point for physical donations

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Speaker 3: in Darwin or Casarina, but if there's a local business

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Speaker 3: that wants to get in contact that would be happy

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Speaker 3: to accept physical donations for me, that would be brilliant.

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Speaker 3: And my mum, Jen actually lives out in Timber Creek

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Speaker 3: and she collects a lot of cans and cashes those

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Speaker 3: in through the Casher Container's program every year that may

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Speaker 3: just trailer loads full of them and she donates all

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Speaker 3: that money as well. So and then I spend a

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Speaker 3: lot of time in the shops loading up trolley's full

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Speaker 3: of foodies and take them back and pack them and

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Speaker 3: distribute them.

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Speaker 1: It sounds like an absolute family fish on your part.

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Speaker 2: It is. Now, how how much money have you have?

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Speaker 1: You raised some money so far for this year and

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Speaker 1: talk me through where you're at for this year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So this year so far we've packed to distribute

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Speaker 3: East Arnham Region, which was two hundred and forty nine presents.

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Speaker 3: They're heading off this week, and I put a call

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Speaker 3: out for more donations. Now that was about twelve hundred

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Speaker 3: dollars worth of money that we'd used for that, and

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Speaker 3: then the physical donations that we collected so far this

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Speaker 3: year as well. So we need a lot more, yeah,

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Speaker 3: to get it over the line, particularly trying to get

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Speaker 3: Alice Springs and Central Desert and McDonald region and Barkley

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Speaker 3: Region done fairly quickly so that we've got time to

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Speaker 3: ship them down to them.

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Speaker 1: What kind of presents are you after, you know, like

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Speaker 1: when you talk about those physical donations, what kind of

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Speaker 1: presents are you after?

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Speaker 3: What kind of things would your grandparents like to receive? Hankys,

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Speaker 3: toilet trees, liquid soaps. A lot of facilities don't like

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Speaker 3: cakes of soap. They're a slip hazard, and we can't

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Speaker 3: accept anything that's flammable, but toiletries, knee rugs, hanky flannels,

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Speaker 3: nail files, male polishes, shaving products for men. We have

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Speaker 3: a whole whole list up on their Facebook page of

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Speaker 3: things that we can and can't take, CDs or DVDs.

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Speaker 3: It might be you know suit that audience, yep, knickknacks,

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Speaker 3: things that they can decorate their room with. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 3: pretty much if you would buy it for your grandparents

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Speaker 3: and we would like it.

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Speaker 1: Tory. Just to anybody out there listening this morning, if

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Speaker 1: you are listening to Tory right now and you're thinking, hey,

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Speaker 1: I do have a business where those physical donations could

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Speaker 1: be dropped off, to get in contact with us here

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Speaker 1: at the station eight nine four one one O four nine,

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Speaker 1: and we can certainly get you in contact with Tory

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Speaker 1: as well. Tory, you know, to everybody listening this morning,

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Speaker 1: why do you reckon it is so important? You know

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Speaker 1: that these presents that this whole campaign does happen, and

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Speaker 1: that all of our beautiful seniors that are in age

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Speaker 1: care and beyond that they get a present for Christmas

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Speaker 1: each year. I mean, I think to me it sounds

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Speaker 1: like absolute common sense that they should get one.

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Speaker 2: But to you, why is it so important?

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Speaker 3: I think Christmas can be a lonely time for a

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Speaker 3: lot of people. I know it's a wonderful time and

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Speaker 3: it's about family and connection and being together, but you know,

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Speaker 3: the Northern Territory is so isolated and a lot of

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Speaker 3: people don't have their loved ones close for Christmas. So

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Speaker 3: I think a lot of people, particularly those in age care,

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Speaker 3: maybe don't have don't have family around or and a

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Speaker 3: lot of the organizations will provide their own Christmas events

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Speaker 3: and stuff like that, but it's just nice to let

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Speaker 3: them know that, hey, we're thinking of you, and he's

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Speaker 3: a little bit of a surprise that they don't expect

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Speaker 3: and bring a little bit of joy.

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Speaker 1: I think it is absolutely wonderful what you've organized, Tory,

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Speaker 1: and Mate, I want to make you our Territorian of

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Speaker 1: the week this week as well. It's an early call,

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Speaker 1: it's only Wednesday, but you are my Territorian of the

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Speaker 1: Week this week. The fact that you've done this, you

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Speaker 1: know you started this off your own back. It sounds

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Speaker 1: like your whole family is involved, your mum, your kids,

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Speaker 1: your husband, everybody and what you're doing for those in

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Speaker 1: age care around the territory to let them know that

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Speaker 1: they're loved and that they're thought of on Christmas.

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Speaker 2: Tory, you should be really bloody proud of yourself.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Katie.

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Speaker 2: It's such a.

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Speaker 1: Beautiful, beautiful thing that you've organized. Now you're my territory

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Speaker 1: and of the week. A big thanks to Malone's Butchery.

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Speaker 1: At Gateway Caravans Campus and Remote Orders, you can ask

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Speaker 1: about their free vacuum packing service. But Tory, if people

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Speaker 1: are listening this morning and they're after some more info

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Speaker 1: about how they can get involved, where's the best place

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Speaker 1: for them to go?

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Speaker 3: The Facebook page would be our best play for us.

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Speaker 3: Just Operation Secret Stanner Age Care and t so we

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Speaker 3: post updates on there as a project rolls out. We

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Speaker 3: also post requests if we have specific donations that we're chasing,

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Speaker 3: and the ghost on Me there is there as well

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Speaker 3: for donations.

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Speaker 1: Tory, you're a legend and you're our Territorian of the

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Speaker 1: Week this week.

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Speaker 2: Good on you. For what you're doing.

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Speaker 1: And I hope that by us having this discussion on

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Speaker 1: here this morning as well, it does prompt some people

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Speaker 1: to either make a donation, whether it be physical or monetary,

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Speaker 1: and you know, and to help out.

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Speaker 2: I think it's incredible.

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Speaker 3: Good on you, thanks so much for your time

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Speaker 2: Thank you, thanks for joining me this morning,