Meredith Greene, Tyler Thames and their two daughters (photo used with permission)
Within a day of the tragic deaths of two Harrisburg residents, thousands of dollars have been raised for their family.
By midday Thursday, an online fundraiser totaled nearly $20,000 to help the Greene/Thames family, devastated by a double homicide on Wednesday morning.
Early yesterday, the Harrisburg Police Bureau responded to a shooting on the 1300-block of Liberty Street, where they found residents Meredith Greene and Tyler Thames dead. Another woman, Brittonie Meredith, was also injured at the scene. Police have charged Gregory Gerrod Greene Jr. with the murder.
Meredith Greene and Thames’ two daughters, ages 6 and 7, were also found wounded at the home and transported to the hospital.
Early Thursday morning, a GoFundMe page circulated on social media, asking for donations to support the two girls.
Organizer of the fundraiser, Jaime Johnsen, a friend of the family and a Harrisburg School Board director, said that when she heard the news, she had to do something.
“I want to be there for them as much as I can,” Johnsen said. “The girls really deserve the world. They’re my princess, that’s what I call them.”
She set the goal for the fundraiser at $5,000, but by noon on Thursday, it had already raised four times that amount from over 200 donors.
One of those donors was Freshido, a local chain restaurant with locations in Harrisburg, Hershey and Mechanicsburg. The company contributed $3,000 to the GoFundMe.
According to the company, Meredith was an employee at the downtown Harrisburg location before the tragedy.
“She was amazing,” said Leneia Phillips, assistant manager at Freshido in downtown Harrisburg. “She gave us more than any donation could ever be worth.”
Phillips said that Meredith talked about her daughters often, sometimes even bringing them in to the restaurant.
“It’s been really hard,” she said. “You still want to think she will come into work tomorrow.”
Johnsen said that all of the money raised from the GoFundMe will go to the girls.
According to Johnsen, Meredith was the daughter of former Harrisburg City Council member Sandra Reid.
Last year, Meredith performed in a production of “Pretty Fire” at Sankofa African American Theatre Company. President and artistic director of the theater, Sharia Benn, shared on Facebook that “[Meredith] was a beautiful light on and off stage.”
Johnsen said that Meredith was a “great mother” and that Thames was “a total girl dad.”
“They both worked so hard to give the girls a good life,” she said. “The least I can do is help.”
Johnsen said that she plans to leave the GoFundMe up to hopefully continue to receive donations and has started another one to help the family with funeral costs, as well.
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