UPDATE: OUTCAST NO MORE! Now community praises 19-y-o Jabary Williams after Sagicor rewards him for honesty.... Reaching out entailed opening an account for Williams at Sagicor Bank. In addition, the youngster and his family have been presented with a weekend at the group's Jewel Resorts. It doesn't stop there, as the company has also committed to sending Williams, who works at a bakery, on a training course to enhance his baking skills.

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, November 15, 2015    

WITHIN a few hours of Jabary Williams's story appearing in the Jamaica Observer on Friday, the disappointment he felt at being ridiculed by people in his community for returning $100,000 he had found to its owner turned to respect and joy.

Nineteen-year-old Jabary Williams and his stepmother Maurine
 Wright (right) in discussion with Sagicor executive Carol
Bourke-Hylton; and Sagicor Investments President and
CEO Rohan Miller at the financial giant’s headquarters in
New Kingston last Friday. The Sagicor Group, after
reading in the Observer how Williams was ridiculed in his
 community for returning $100,000 he had found to the
 man who lost it, rewarded the youngster for his
 honesty. (PHOTOS: JOSEPH WELLINGTON)

In addition to Jamaicans here and abroad who called the Observer offering to help the 19-year-old, executives of financial giant Sagicor Group sent a strong message to Williams and his community that honesty is indeed the best policy.

Sagicor Investments President and CEO Rohan Miller told the Sunday Observer that after officials of the financial institution read the story, they decided to reach out to Williams.

Reaching out entailed opening an account for Williams at Sagicor Bank. In addition, the youngster and his family have been presented with a weekend at the group's Jewel Resorts.

It doesn't stop there, as the company has also committed to sending Williams, who works at a bakery, on a training course to enhance his baking skills.

"There are a number of unsung heroes in our society, and a lot of times what we encounter is information and stories about all the bad elements, all the things that go wrong," said Rejeanne Campbell, marketing manager, Sagicor Bank and Sagicor Investments.

"In a time like this when the economy is tough and moral fortitude is not where it needs to be at all times, it is important for us as corporate Jamaica to support those persons, especially young persons, who come forward and show true character in the things that they do. Even if they don't always meet a reward like this, we want them to know that doing right and doing good is always the best practice," Campbell added.

Jabary Williams gets a congratulatory hug from Sagicor
 Group’s Carol Bourke-Hylton at the headquarters of the
financial group in New Kingston on Friday.

She said that what Williams did also sent a message to the country that there was still hope.

"In terms of our national development, in terms of where our nation is going, this is the kind of fibre that we would like to have appreciated across the nation," she said.

As the Sagicor officials gave Williams the good news at the group's headquarters in New Kingston on Friday, the youngster from Kid Lane, one of Kingston's inner-city communities, couldn't hide his pride.

"I feel very proud to know that despite all the pressure I stood my ground and stood up for what was right," Williams said, adding that he also felt vindicated. more