(From left) Captain Christopher Romans, vice-principal of Holland High School; Stacy-Ann Watson, bursar, with Oshane Warren, accepting his cheque for $61,600 from Norman Reid, regional manager of western Jamaica for the National Commercial Bank. - photo by Sheena Gayle

Western Bureau:

Seventeen-year-old Oshane Warren was unaware that being honest would eventually have its rewards. But two Wednesdays ago, the National Commercial Bank Foundation rewarded his deeds with a cheque for $61,600.

The student of Holland High School in Trelawny, found a wallet filled with $59,000 and personal information on the school compound in November. He handed it over to the principal of the institution to be returned to its owner.

According to Norman Reid, the NCB's regional manager for retail banking in western Jamaica, after reading about what Oshane did in the media, the NCB Foundation thought it was appropriate to reward such action.

Impressed with the return

"NCB Foundation was quite pleased and impressed that you could have something like that happening now. This action is supposed to be the norm but we recognise that, with some of the ills of society, maybe another child may have taken the money home and not return it," Reid expressed during the handing over of the cheque at the NCB's Baywest office in Montego Bay.

A student in Trelawny who found a wallet filled with $59,000 and personal information on the school compound in November was awarded $61,600.

The funds, he explained, will be disbursed by the school's bursar and will be used to offset the cost for transportation to and from school and Oshane's lunch for the rest of the academic year.

An elated Oshane, who lives in Clarks Town, Trelawny, expressed gratitude for the donation by the bank, adding that it will go a long way in helping his mother finance his education.

Important donation

In his brief explanation of how important this donation was for him, Oshane noted that "this money will assist me well. Because over the years there have been many ups and downs with the same problems every year of not having any money to go to school, so this is a good step for me."

During an interview with The Gleaner, mother, Carlene Warren, thanked the commercial bank for its effort in rewarding honesty at a time when such a deed was an unpopular choice. She further noted, "despite the harsh economic times that we are facing, parents must insist on instilling proper values in their children. This goes to show that honesty is rewarding and doing the right thing is never out of style".