What is Varsity Letter in Community Service?
Through the Varsity Letter in Community Service (VLCS) program, United Way of Southeast Minnesota partners with high schools in Olmsted, Dodge, Winona, and Fillmore counties to recognize and reward students for their volunteer efforts in the community.
Volunteer for 100 hours during the program year.
Receive a Varsity Letter for Community Service!
52 Weeks in a Year = 2 Hours per Week
Applying for Varsity Letter in Community Service
Review the current 2026-2027 VLCS Application Packet.
If you are new to VLCS, email Sonja Sommerfeldt to join our volunteer opportunity email list!
Keep track of your volunteer hours throughout the year using a Volunteer Hour Tracker that includes:
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Dates of Volunteer Service
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Name of Agency/Organization
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Name of Volunteer Supervisor
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Area of Impact (Financial Stability, Youth Opportunity, Healthy Communities, Community Resilience, Other)
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Description of Service Performed
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# of Hours Volunteer during each activity
Verify your volunteer hours. Each time you volunteer, verify the experience by:
- Capturing a photograph or selfie during the volunteer experience
- Having the volunteer supervisor verify your volunteer experience by:
- Signing a piece of organization letterhead
- Recording a video verification
- Emailing Sonja directly from their organizational email
Complete a Reflection Piece that includes the following:
- What you learned about yourself during your volunteer experience over the program year.
- What you discovered about your community through the experience.
- What you enjoyed most about the experience.
- How you feel the experience has shaped you and your worldview.
Handmade creative works, literary pieces, and essays are welcome. For questions, email Sonja Sommerfeldt, Impact Program Coordinator, at sonjas@uwsemn.org.
Past VLCS Alumni Reflections
"[Volunteering] was really meaningful. Just talking to patients and hearing about their life or their day was something I really enjoyed. It has reminded me to value the small things in life. When you're volunteering, like at Mayo Clinic, it's the small things that you do that really matter to people.”
- Solyana Adane, first year VLCS Awardee (2024-2025).
"We have the opportunity to come alongside people and empathize with them. Although we may never be able to truly understand what a person is going through, showing up and showing empathy means more than we can comprehend. Volunteering focuses our eyes off ourselves and onto the lives of others."
- Makenna Nigon, Junior at Byron High School. Second year VLCS Awardee (2024-2025).
"[The volunteer activities] I enjoyed most were those where I got to use skills and talents unique to me. I especially enjoyed tutoring math and computer classes at Hawthorne Education, and refurbishing computers for the community with Free Geek Twin Cities ... I could do the things I love the most while sharing them with others."
- Matthew Markovic, Senior at Mayo High School. First year VLCS Awardee (2025-2026).
"I wouldn’t be me without the service that I give / To me when I serve is truly when I live"
- excerpt from poem written by Nora Day, Sophomore at John Marshall High School. First year VLCS awardee (2025-2026).
Application Deadline: March 1, 2027
Turn in your application to United Way of Southeast Minnesota by March 1, 2027, 11:59 p.m. using one of the following methods:
- VIA EMAIL: You may submit your application via email to sonjas@uwsemn.org for Sonja, the Program Coordinator, to review.
- BY MAIL: You may mail or hand deliver your application to our office at: United Way of Southeast Minnesota, 903 West Center Street, Suite 100, Rochester, MN 55902, Attn: Varsity Letter in Community Service.
- Hours are for eligible volunteer work from March 1, 2026 - February 28, 2027.
- Application deadline is on or before March 1, 2027.
- United Way will notify you that we have received your application via email.
- United Way will notify you in April with determination of whether you are receiving this award.
- Students who qualify for the Varsity Letter in Community Service award will receive a certificate, a community service patch, and a pin specifying a first, second, third or fourth year award recipient. These are currently free of charge.
- Participating high schools will offer students the school's varsity letter and any associated acknowledgements/awards.
last updated May 7, 2026 3:26 pm