Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008
They are known as Harriet’s Girls — 11 of them all told between the ages of 11 and 17 — who, through their work to help the underprivileged, recently were honored by a Prince George’s County group.
Harriet’s Girls Inc., based in Riverdale, was founded in November 2006 by Riverdale resident JoKeeta Joyner and comprises the 11 young honors students.
Their community work has included a weeklong mission trip to the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean, feeding the homeless at St. Barnabas Church in Upper Marlboro and at McPherson Square in the District, and participating in a ‘‘Relay For Life” fundraiser at Watkins Regional Park. They have also adopted 20 families in Prince George’s, providing them with food and clothing during the Christmas 2007 holiday.
During their summer 2007 trip to the Dominican Republic, they joined the faith-based relief and development organization, World Hope International, to distribute 350 pounds of clothing to needy families, visited orphanages and helped feed homeless Haitian refugees.
For their efforts on behalf of the underprivileged, the group was awarded one of three Student Leader awards by The Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation of Prince George’s County at the foundation’s first awards ceremony on Jan. 24.
The 11 student members are Dejah Muriel, 13; Dominique Davenport, 12; Laci Taylor, 13; Morgan Ward, 13; Therianna Ward, 12; Jasmine Joyner, 13; Jaida Joyner, 11; Crystal Jeter, 17; Amanda Harmon, 17; Taryn Harris, 12; and Lauren Wingfield, 13.
Six of the girls attend Queen Anne College Preparatory School in Upper Marlboro, one is home-schooled, one attends Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, one attends Robert Goddard Montessori School in Seabrook and two others attend Thomas Stone High School in Waldorf.
JoKeeta Joyner, founder and president of Harriet’s Girls, said she decided to formally start the organization after the three initial members, Taylor and Joyner’s two daughters, Jaida and Jasmine, helped feed the homeless in McPherson Square in the District during Thanksgiving 2006.
Joyner, a quality assurance manager for CACI, a software company based in Arlington, said that the other girls who joined were friends of Jaida and Jasmine’s.
To become a member of Harriet’s Girls, the youths had to have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher, no behavioral problems and a hunger to help others, Joyner said.
‘‘I’ve always made it a point to help others and instill that value in my children,” Joyner said. ‘‘Everybody has so much to give even if it’s not just monetary.”
The group is planning to embark on another mission trip this summer to Jamaica. There, they said they would distribute toys to orphanages and purchase and deliver live chickens and goats to a farmer whose wife died when Hurricane Dean struck Jamaica last August. The surviving farmer has to care for the couple’s eight children.
Joyner said Harriet’s Girls was named after Harriet Tubman, who helped deliver 300 Southern slaves to freedom during the 19th Century.
Jasmine said she hopes the group serves as an example to other students in the county.
‘‘If they see other kids their age doing this kind of stuff, then they’ll do it too, maybe,” she said.
Muriel said she joined the nonprofit to be closer to her friends and to give back.
‘‘There’s a lot of people out there who are less fortunate than me and I want to help them out,” she said.
Morgan said she too wanted to improve the lives of others.
‘‘I thought it would be the perfect thing to give back to the community,” she said.
E-mail Jonathan Stein at jstein@gazette.net.
