Each year in the Houston, TX area, radio station 100.3 The Bull leads an annual “10,000 for the Troops” campaign encouraging their listeners and community to collect thank you cards for active-duty service members. The mission of “10,000 for the Troops” is to ensure that those currently serving in our military receive the support and recognition they deserve.
Sunflower Bank, driven by the efforts of Assistant Branch Manager Alicia Smith, helped contribute over 1,200 cards to this cause in 2024.
Sunflower Bank Rallies to Participate
Through her enthusiasm and passion, Alicia brought together colleagues and community partners to create, collect and distribute letters and cards. She created a card template and shared it widely making it easy for volunteers to add their own personal messages of thanks and support. The project quickly gained momentum within Sunflower Bank and the response was overwhelming. With the participation of our Houston-area banking teams as well as other banking teams across the country, 1,264 letters and cards were collected in less than two weeks—an impressive contribution to the overwhelming 71,000 letters and cards collected overall.
Alicia, who personally wrote 116 cards, expressed her gratitude for her regional manager and the rest of Sunflower Bank for rallying behind her and her partner organizations.
“Alicia has been very instrumental to both the American Legion and the VFW, even though she lives far away in The Woodlands. She’s been very dedicated and her heart is in the right place. I didn’t know who Sunflower Bank was before Alicia, but now I tell people about them all the time.”
The Power of Community Partnerships
Two Spring Branch, Texas veteran organizations that Alicia works with regularly, VFW Post 8790 and American Legion Post 654, are heavily involved in “10,000 for the Troops” each year and helped make it easy for Sunflower Bank to participate. Raul “RG” Cuelas, Veteran and Commander of VFW Post 8790, and Terry Chung, also a Veteran and a member of both VFW Post 8790 and American Legion Post 654, play key roles in the collection and distribution of letters each year.
“I was in Baghdad and Iraq in 2004 and 2005, and we used to get these letters. It boosts your morale so high because people actually acknowledge what you are doing. When you’re on the other side of the world fighting, a lot of times you wonder why you’re doing it. Getting these letters of encouragement and great thoughts pushes you to do the best you can.”
“Being able to meet different people and influence them to contribute in different ways is special. We don’t have to do it all on our own. A lot of veterans get out of the military and just move on. They don’t engage with other veterans. We want to change that to have more veterans become leaders in the community.”
100.3 the Bull Radio Interview Recognition
Alicia Smith’s leadership and dedication to honor military servicemembers are recognized by her peers as well as the broader community.
Due to Sunflower Bank’s significant contribution of cards this year, Alicia was invited to interview on 100.3 the Bull. She took the opportunity to speak about her passion for the project and support she received, stating “There’s a lot of things that have inspired me to support. My father-in-law is a Vietnam War veteran, and my cousin is also a marine. I got a lot of support from my manager, and the community really came through.”
We congratulate and support Alicia’s achievements and encourage all our team members to take an active role in their communities.
Sunflower Bank is excited to continue supporting initiatives that honor and uplift our military and veteran communities. We remain committed to fostering these relationships and making a difference in the lives of those who serve our country.
