Kids of Atlanta Shooting Victim, Hyun Jung Grant, Raise More Than $646K on GoFundMe Page
Randy Park, the 23-year-old son of Hyun Jung Grant, has raised more than $646K on GoFundMe in the wake of his mom's death. Grant, an employee at Gold Spa, was one of the six Asian women who died in the Atlanta shooting on Tuesday night.
"She was one of my best friends and the strongest influence on who we are today. Losing her has put a new lens on my eyes on the amount of hate that exists in our world," Park wrote." As much as I want to grieve and process the reality that she is gone, I have a younger brother to take care of and matters to resolve as a result of this tragedy. Frankly, I have no time to grieve for long. I will need to figure out the living situation for my brother and I for the next few months, possibly year."
In the fundraiser, Park details that he and his younger brother are the only members of their family in the country. Their family lives in South Korea and are unable to travel to the U.S.
"As of now I have been advised to move out of my current home within the end of March to save money and find a new place to live," Park wrote. "My biggest priority right now is to put my mother to rest and plan out the funeral but due to some legal complications, I am unable to obtain my mother's body. I don't think I'll be able to figure out this whole situation along with legal matters if given 2 weeks to move out."
Park said all donations would be used for basic living necessities like food and bills for him and his brother.
"Any amount would be forever appreciated. Please everyone just stay safe and check up on your friends and loved ones that may feel endangered," the fundraiser reads.
On Tuesday, 21-year-old Robert Long allegedly opened fire at three different massage parlors in the Atlanta area, killing eight people, six of whom were Asian women.
The massacre has stoked fear in the Asian-American community, which had experienced a surge in racist attacks since the coronavirus pandemic began. Figures like former President Donald Trump have scapegoated the virus onto the Chinese population, calling it "the China virus" and "kung flu," despite guidance from both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that advised against using such rhetoric.
"To be honest. I didn't think it would happen to me," Park told The Daily Beast on Thursday, saying that apart from the occasional online slur, "nothing has happened to me personally—until now."
"I had to call the medical examiner to figure out the body retrieval situation, which I don't want to talk about right now," he said. "I really just want to put my mom to rest. I don't want to do anything else."
On Friday, Park thanked his donors online, writing, "I don't know how any word I write here will ever convey how grateful and blessed I am to receive this much support. Sharing and listening was more than enough thank you so much. And to those of you that have donated any amount of money. To put it bluntly, I can't believe you guys exist."
"I can't help but feel selfish for all the attention this has garnered," he added. "Thank you everyone so much. This doesn't represent even a fragment of how I feel. My mother can rest easy knowing I have the support of the world with me."
Newsweek reached out to Park for comment but did not hear back before publication.
