Collegiate Times

Friends of slain Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington are preparing the sale of wristbands to raise money in her name for charity.

The purple and green wristbands will feature Harrington’s name, a heart, and “241,” representing the family’s slogan, “I love you too much, forever, once more.” The wristbands are tentatively priced at $4. Proceeds from sales of the bands will be donated to
Orphan Medical Network International.

Erin Cole, a junior communication major at Tech, graduated from high school with Harrington.

“We wanted to do something to contribute to a cause she believed in,” Cole said.

Noting the success of wristbands such as the Livestrong bracelets for cancer research, Cole said wristbands “were the perfect thing to do for Morgan.”

Tony Liskey, a junior civil engineering major, spent $150 of his own money to create the initial order of 300 bracelets.

Liskey serves as the administrator of a Facebook group organizing information about the bands.

The group, titled “Morgan Harrington bracelets” had 1,112 members as of 8 p.m. yesterday.

“We’re not sure if everybody’s looking to buy the wristband, but it shows they care about the cause,” Cole said. “We’re going to try our hardest to get these out to everybody.”

Plans are still underway to sell the bracelets in Blacksburg and the Roanoke area.

Liskey said he has talked with administrators about potentially selling the bracelets either on the Drillfield or in Squires Student Center.

Liskey said he hoped sales from the initial run of wristbands would generate around $1,000.

Harrington, a junior education major, went missing on Oct. 17, 2009 while attending a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. Her body was uncovered Jan. 27, 2010 at a farm approximately 10 miles from the arena.

The Harrington family announced in early February the formation of a scholarship in Morgan’s name to benefit the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

The Harrington family designated donations be made to the scholarship, along with OMNI.

A version of this article appeared in the Feb 23 issue of the Collegiate Times.