After her daughter Morgan was abducted and killed, Gil Harrington founded Help Save the Next Girl, an organization that works to prevent predatory violence through education, outreach and activism. 

Morgan, just 20 at the time of her abduction and murder in 2009, was taken from her family and friends after attending a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. She sustained a chin injury from a fall inside the arena, and a nurse who spoke with her in the restroom believed she may have had a concussion. Disoriented, she exited the arena without her jacket, which she had left at her seat. The jacket held her ticket. When she tried to reenter, she was denied admission. She was later seen hitchhiking on the Copley Road Bridge near the arena, where she was abducted by Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. 

“Circumstances have forced us to be very public with our grief around Morgan’s death,” Harrington said. “I believe that transparency has helped to remove some of the stigma that often attaches to victims. Rape, abduction and murder do not happen only to bad girls in bad places. These circumstances can happen to nice girls from nice towns. It could be your school or your church. Victim blaming is an attempt at self-soothing. If these crimes happen only to bad girls, then of course my good girl is safe. That, of course, is a fallacy.” 

Since then, her family has worked to keep Morgan’s name alive and raise awareness about preventing similar tragedies in other communities. Their efforts included building the Morgan Harrington Educational Wing in Zambia, Africa, which Harrington has described as emerging from a moment of self-pity. 

“My neighbors across the street were out in their yard playing with grandchildren and planning a wedding. I watched them play and thought, all I have is a box of ashes, poor me,” Harrington said. “What can you do with a box of ashes? After some reflection, I realized if you have ashes, you can make cinder blocks. With cinder blocks, you build. That’s exactly what we did. I mixed some of Morgan’s ashes into the very foundation of that school building. Morgan wanted to be a teacher, and she wanted to travel to Africa with me. She was killed before she accomplished either of these goals. Hundreds of children are currently being educated in the Morgan Harrington Educational Wing. They will be prepared to participate in Africa’s future.” 

Additionally, a scholarship funded through the Docs for Morgan basketball game was established at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. It pays half of a student’s tuition for four years. The total amount available is $600,000. Each year, students gather to play basketball to raise funds. 

“It is a real celebratory evening that contributes greatly to the rapport between medical students, medical faculty and citizens of Roanoke,” Harrington said. “I particularly love the elegant circularity. In direct response to our family’s injury, we chose to return healers to the community. That is how you neutralize evil.” 

Help Save the Next Girl seeks to raise awareness about what Harrington calls the “vulnerability of young women and young men to predatory violence” through education, victim and family outreach and legislative activism. 

Harrington and her husband, Dan, have advocated for changes to Virginia law to prevent similar tragedies. 

“Dan and I lobbied for 16 bills in front of the Virginia General Assembly. Most of them have to do with the admission of forensic evidence in criminal cases,” Harrington said. “Many, if not all, of those bills were passed into law.” 

Help Save the Next Girl was featured on the CBS program “48 Hours” during coverage of Matthew’s capture. The organization also has been featured on “The Today Show,” CNN’s “Anderson Cooper,” Voice of America and People magazine; on Investigation Discovery; and most recently on HLN’s true-crime series “Very Scary People” in episodes titled “The Back to School Killer.” 

Help Save the Next Girl Vice President Jane Lillian Vance, one of Morgan’s former professors, said the organization is among the most prominent groups nationally in the fight against predatory violence. 

“We have started more than 100 chapters nationally in universities, middle schools and high schools,” Vance said. “We are an educational and inspirational group, and here in Virginia is where we began.” 

To start a chapter, organizers need school approval, a faculty adviser and a group of interested students. Harrington sends a welcome box containing shirts, bracelets, stickers, design cards, brochures and what the group calls “Butterfly Books” for young children. The Girl Scouts of America requested the books for Brownie Scouts. New chapters also receive a copy of the book Harrington co-authored about Morgan’s abduction. 

“Before the pandemic, Gil and I spoke at universities, churches, libraries, book clubs and other civic organizations about our book, ‘Morgan Harrington: Murdered and Dead for Good — A Mother’s Quest to Find a Serial Killer and Healing,’” Vance said. “Gil has often said that our book is not a true-crime story, since we are not police detectives; rather, it is a love story — a memoir of Morgan before she went missing, of the Harringtons’ grief journey through 101 days of her being missing and then through the trials of her murderer, and of their resilience now. The book is redemptive, the choice of building a positive legacy over retaliation. Of course, deep resilience is a lesson everyone needs.” 

New chapters also provide the full name of their school or group, town and state, a logo reflecting school colors and the name and photo of their mascot to avoid design errors. 

“Each of these items we see as more than a thing. Each is a conversation starter,” Vance said. “We will also order and send your group a large vinyl grommeted Help Save the Next Girl banner using a special HSTNG logo we designed just for you.” 

The organization will give new chapters a shoutout on its Facebook page once they are established. 

The group’s main message to young people is to remain vigilant and stay together. 

“Our message is positive: We want to reawaken the community and encourage heroes, young women and young men, girls and boys, to help save the next girl and help each other,” Vance said. “I believe that we are the grassroots antidote to rape culture, with a positive, creative, proactive voice that young people carry to their peers.” 

Each chapter attracts participants from a variety of backgrounds. 

“Young men participate in many of our school-based chapters. I think that is important for several reasons. First of all, men can be victims of predatory violence. We need young men alert to the incidence of predatory violence so they can protect themselves and also be guardians and heroes,” Harrington said. “I believe that young people who participate in the Help Save the Next Girl movement are less likely to become either a victim or a perpetrator.” 

More information is available at helpsavethenextgirl.com and on the organization’s Facebook page. Vance can be contacted at [email protected] for additional information.