2015 Willie Stewart Community
Service Scholarship Deadline: April 1, 2015
The Willie Stewart Community Service Scholarship recognizes high school seniors in Pierce
County who have given back to their community, locally and globally, through volunteer service.
Scholarship awards range from $1000-$2,500 and will be sent directly to recipients’ college of
attendance upon verification of enrollment. Applicants must qualify for and complete the
application for their Varsity Letter in Community Service offered by United Way of Pierce County
during their senior year in addition to this application. There are no income requirements. The
scholarship application must be submitted with the Varsity Letter in Community Service application
and be received by April 1st 2015 including a letter of recommendation to be considered.
Scholarship Guidelines
Minimum Qualifications
 12th grade student attending a Pierce County school
 Must qualify and apply for a Varsity Letter in Community Service in current year (to be
submitted together)
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Must provide documented volunteer service for grades 9-12 including what’s documented in
the current and/or previous Varsity Letter application(s) & MUST USE the form provided in
Section B. All Volunteer work must meet guidelines on website to be included.
Write an approximately 500 word essay (details in application)
Have applied, or will apply, to an institution of higher learning (technical college, community
college, trade school, or university) for the 2014-2015 academic year
Application must be typed
A letter of recommendation must be received with your application
Guidelines for Applying
 Complete this application, the application for the Varsity Letter in Community Service and
include one letter of recommendation. All MUST be submitted together and received no
later than Monday, April 1, 2015. Materials may be mailed or delivered in person.
Judging Criteria
A scholarship review committee will be judging all complete applications and will award scholarship
amounts based on scores in the following categories:
 Amount of community service
 Your community service demonstrates significant thought and action in addressing the
needs of the community. We ask you to include volunteer information from grades 9-12 on
the provided form for work from 2011 to the present.
 Leadership
o Include information that demonstrates your leadership qualities. How have you
served as a leader among your peers and encouraged others to volunteer?
 Impact of service
o Demonstrate that your community service involves an area of need and community
focus that is important to the community (Pierce County or international).
 Commitment to service
o Based on your essay, does it appear that you have an understanding of community
need and does community service appear to be a long term commitment?
Please proceed to next page for the beginning of the application.
2015 Willie Stewart Community
Service Scholarship: Deadline: April 1, 2015
Section A: Personal Information
First Name: _________________________ Last Name:
Mailing Address:
City: ___________________________________________ State: ________ Zip:
Phone: ____________________ Email:
High School: ___________________________________________ Gender:
College you anticipate attending:
Section B: Volunteer Work
On the provided tracking sheet please list the volunteer activities you have participated in during grades 912. You should include all volunteer work from previous Varsity Letter applications (if applicable) and the
current application. Volunteer work contributed within the local and global community will be weighted and
scored the same. Summertime work can be credited to the following school year. Must be typed and hours
must be totaled for each activity and year. Volunteer work MUST meet criteria on website to be included.
Please provide a reasonable amount of detail so the review committee can get a sense of your work.
Section C: Varsity Letter in Community Service application
You must complete the application for a Varsity Letter in Community Service. It is available at
www.communityserviceletter.org and must meet requirements for application.
Section D: ESSAY
Please include a brief essay which describes your most rewarding volunteer activity or activities. In your
essay, explain what you learned from the experience illustrating your understanding of community need and
the impact of your work. We’d also like to know how or why you are committed to serving your community
in the future. This is also your opportunity to share how you’ve served as a student leader. Length should be
approximately 500 words and your essay must be typed.
Section E: Letter of Recommendation (Include with your full application- do not submit separately)
A letter of recommendation is required to complete your application for this scholarship. Your letter of
recommendation should be written by an adult who has either worked with you in a volunteer capacity (e.g.
supervisor) or by someone who can speak to your character and service experience. This letter needs to
include your first and last name. You may only submit 1 letter of recommendation. If multiple are submitted
we will choose one at random from those supplied for review by the scholarship committee.
All materials must be received by April 1st to be considered and must be submitted together. Be sure to
include both your application for the Varsity Letter in Community Service & this Willie Stewart Community
Service Scholarship application. Be sure to affix extra postage if required.
Submit in person or via mail to:
Youth United
c/o United Way of Pierce County
1501 Pacific Ave, Suite 400
Tacoma, WA 98402
*Our offices are not open Saturdays or Sundays
Section B: Volunteer Work (Grades 9-12)
Duplicate this sheet as needed to fully document your service.
Student Name:_______________________
Please review guidelines on website and only include qualifying work.
MUST BE TYPED- Please don’t use acronyms- use full organization name
School
Year at
time of
service
20112012
Organization
or Group
What volunteer work did you do?
Contact
Person &
Phone or
Email
Dates of
Service
Specific
date or date
range
(ongoing
volunteer
work)
Number
of
Hours
Key Club
Planning meetings/events
(feeding the homeless,
fundraisers, donation drives,
March Gladness
Ms. Feider
253-2724263
4/1/11 to
6/15/12
56 hours
National Honor
Society
Club meetings, AP Book Drive,
collected Pennies for Patients,
led fundraiser to benefit school,
club volunteered for National
Youth Service Day at L’Arche
Farms
Mr. Ayers
253-1234567
4/1/11 to
6/15/12
30 hours
Example
20112012
20122013
20132014
20142015
GRAND TOTAL OF VOLUNTEER WORK FOR ALL 4 YEARS:
GRAND
TOTAL
FOR
YEAR
86