Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation announces the 2021 recipients of the Robert O. Pare College Scholarship

The Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation today announced the 2021 recipients of the Robert O. Pare College Scholarship. Raphael Roposo of North Providence, RI, and Julia Koski of Moosup, CT, each will receive $5,000 towards their college education from the Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation.

Over the course of 55 years, Robert O. Pare served Centreville Bank in a variety of roles, including president, trustee and corporator. Centreville Bank’s board of directors established the scholarship in 2018 upon Pare’s retirement. The intention of the scholarship is to acknowledge local students who positively influence their communities as Pare did while at Centreville.

“I would like to congratulate the two winners of the 2021 scholarship,” says Pare. “I am especially pleased that this year’s winners include a student from Rhode Island and our first winner from Connecticut. The bank scholarship is a tribute to Centreville’s long-standing commitment to serving the community.”

Each of the scholarship recipients were asked to submit an essay showcasing the ways that community service has impacted their lives and the lives of those around them. The winning essays discussed a range of involvement, from educating peers about diversity and heritage to creating platforms for students to remain engaged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My tireless attempts to be a voice in my community came from pure excitement and a wish to be someone recognizable in the crowd,” wrote Roposo, who focused his essay on his efforts to converse with peers about diversity. Roposo’s involvement with his high school’s student body and student council, raising money for his class and SkillsUSA, and sharing family traditions through a culinary program, are ways in which he attempted to influence his community. Roposo plans to continue such efforts in the fall at Roger Williams University as he pursues a business major.

Koski, the first Pare College Scholarship recipient from the Connecticut area, similarly described how she served her student body. As a member of the National Honor Society and Captain of the Debate Team, along with her role as a tutor for Biology and American Sign Language, Koski created ways that allowed club members and peers to interact with one another virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. In her essay, Koski reflects: “…these times have taught me that my passion lies in helping my community…” Koski will follow her passion for science with a major in biology at the University of Connecticut.

For more information about the Robert Pare Scholarship, please visit: 
https://www.centrevillebank.com/Community/Local-Support/College-Scholarship

The Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation was established as a nonprofit, charitable organization in 2006 by the Board of Trustees to further the philanthropic mission of the bank. For more information, visit https://www.centrevillebank.com/Community/Local-Support/Community-Commitment

About Centreville Bank

Founded in 1828 and headquartered in West Warwick, Rhode Island, Centreville Bank is a full-service mutual bank operating through nine branch locations in Coventry, Cranston (two locations), East Greenwich, Narragansett, North Kingstown, West Greenwich, Warwick, and West Warwick, and a loan production office in Providence.  In addition, Putnam Bank, which is headquartered in Putnam, Connecticut, operates as a division of Centreville Bank and serves the Eastern Connecticut market. Centreville currently has total assets of $1.9 billion. For more information, please visit www.centrevillebank.com.