A 12-year-old Little Elm student, Abrielle Chavarrilla, helped bring a holiday letter-writing campaign for military personnel stationed away from home to her entire school district. The campaign was started by New Country 96.3 radio hosts Mark "Hawkeye" Louis and Michelle Rodriguez seven years ago. Students in the district are now writing handwritten messages to service members around the world. The annual effort, called "10,000 for the Troops," aims to collect 10,000 holiday cards.
Chavarrilla said service members volunteer to serve and often cannot be home for the holidays. Watson Robinson Jr., assistant principal at Jerry R. Walker Middle School and a veteran who served in Iraq, said letters from home meant a great deal to Marines in his unit. He said a school in Hawaii once sent about 250 letters to his unit and that he shared them with Marines who had not received mail.
Rodriguez said the letters show how caring children are at a young age. Louis said seeing young people think of others is one of the most inspiring parts of the campaign. Little Elm Mayor Curtis J. Cornelius issued a proclamation in November 2026 recognizing the letter-writing initiative.