Peg It Forward

Ms LUETHEN (King) (15:31): I rise today to talk about a moving and remarkable act of kindness happening in the King community. I am going to call this kind act 'peg it forward'. A few weeks ago, I visited local business owner Jo Murphy at her shop, called Chic by Design, in the Golden Grove Shopping Centre. Jo stocks this wonderful shop with beautiful gifts, and Jo's daughter, Jessie, also works with Jo.

On Jo's shop counter was a huge basket of pegs with short, inspiring messages written on them. I asked what these pegs were for and Jo told me they were made by a local lady to give away. She offered me a peg, and it said, 'Love the life you live.' That afternoon, I chose to sit out in the shopping centre courtyard, at a small table under a tree, and sign some of my constituent letters. Jessie brought the basket of pegs out to me in case anyone who stopped to chat with me might like a peg.

The first lady who stopped to say hello to me picked out a peg and read her message. It was heart stopping to see tears spring into her eyes as she told me that the message was exactly what she had needed and that she was very grateful for her peg. Jo and Jessie have said to me that they have had the very same experience, with people saying their messages have been very relevant to their circumstances. We have discovered now that these baskets of pegs are actually on many local counters.

I asked Jo and Jessie if they could help me discover where the wonderful pegs were coming from. They found out that these were Pamela's pegs, made by local King resident Pam Sawyer, and now I have Pam's story to tell, as Estia Health has written it up. The story is that when Pam moved into her Estia home, she brought blessings with her. Pam mentioned to staff that she enjoyed burning quotes into wooden pegs and that she was hoping to continue this hobby in her new home.

Here is their story of how it was only after getting to know Pam that a bigger picture came to light. The story goes that just before becoming ill Pam said she asked God where He wanted her pegs to go. She heard 'hospitals' and thought, 'What a great idea—to the patients.' Then she heard 'staff' and decided staff need encouragement also. When Pam told her daughter Robyn about her vision, the two of them packed pegs into clear containers and gave them to folks visiting hospitals.

Two weeks later, when Pam was in hospital herself, she realised she could give pegs to the hospital staff who came to her room. About 200 pegs were given out in less than two weeks. One staff member told Pam that the pegs had changed the entire atmosphere in the ward because everyone was stopping each other in passing to see what each other's peg said. Pam's daughter Annette helps Pam add magnets and pictures to these pegs, and friends come in to help with the peg distribution to workplaces, nursing homes and shopping centres. Pam said she can see the vision of all her nursing home sites feeling the love of her pegs. She calls it God's work in action.

The centre writes that visitors stop to read Pam's pegboard, wanting to buy a peg, but Pam has always made it clear that they are free. She just wants people to take a peg that inspires them or speaks to them, or to take the pegs for friends who might just need one. What a wonderful act of goodwill and kindness, creating positivity and hope by distributing inspirational messages throughout our local area via something as simple as a peg. I am so keen to learn how many people in my local community have got pegged. I have heard Pam is not well, and I send Pam and her family my kindest and sincerest thoughts and thank Pam, her daughters and Estia Health for the positive impact these pegs have had.

Throughout the coronavirus, it has been heartbreaking to hear how grandparents have had to wave to their grandchildren through windows, it was tragic to attend funerals by livestream, it is distressing to hear that people have lost their jobs, to see businesses close and to know that people are suffering mentally and financially. That is why our Marshall Liberal government is focused every day on the health of South Australians and on creating more jobs in South Australia.

Kind acts like Pam's are so valuable right now. When we get through this crisis, every handshake and hug will mean so much more. As we rebuild our economy, we must all keep reaching out to others so that we all get through this together. If anyone in my community has another story of kindness, I would love to hear it.