The Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation recently awarded college scholarships totaling $18,000 to six 2009 graduates of Framingham’s three high schools.

Three of the scholarships, in the amount of $5,000 each, were established in 2005 to honor the memory of Roland J. Bunnell II, a past trustee of the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation. Bunnell was also a member of the Framingham Co-operative Bank board of directors and senior vice president at the time of his death in 2004. He had served the bank for more than 15 years.

The Bunnell Memorial Scholarship recipients were Jesse Mitchell, Framingham High School, who will be attending Northeastern University; Alisha Sparling, Marian High School, who plans to attend Stonehill College in the fall; and Catherine Griffin, Joseph P. Keefe Technical School, who will continue her education at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science.

The Charitable Foundation also funded three $1,000 awards made through the Edwin Alexis Marin Memorial Scholarship program at Framingham High School. The scholarships are named for a student who died in a car accident following his sophomore year at Framingham High. The program encourages Latino students at the high school to continue on to college, by providing one means of financial support.

Recipients of the Edwin Alexis Marin scholarships were Alma Garcia, who will attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst in September to study nursing; Alexis Rivera, who will study criminal justice at Westfield State College; and Melinda Alves, who will attend Bridgewater State College, where she will major in education.

"By investing in the education of today’s youth, we are hopeful that they will be among those who give back in ways that will further strengthen the fabric of our community in years to come," said Robert P. Lamprey, chairman of the foundation.