[Passage from our gofundme campaign published February 19, 2022]
***UPDATE***
We cannot thank you enough for your continued generosity and support. Thanks to you, we have surpassed our second goal in 3 days.
We are setting a new goal of $500,000 to establish the Christina Yuna Lee Memorial Fund, to support these organizations and others in the future.
All of your donations have warmed our hearts. Whatever you can donate means the world to us and Christina.
***THANK YOU***
On February 13, 2022, our daughter, sister, and friend Christina Yuna Lee was taken from us in a senseless act of violence.
Christina was coming home from a night out with her friends. She walked up the stairs to her apartment and was fatally met by a man with ill intent. Her death is part of an alarming pattern of unchecked, hateful violence against women, namely women of Asian descent and women of color that can no longer stand without consequence.
Christina was full of life. She radiated positivity, joy, and love. She supported her friends in everything that they did. She went above and beyond to make those she loved know she was there for them—never expecting anything in return. Her loss is an unfathomable tragedy that her loved ones and her community will struggle with for years to come.
As we try to grapple with the unthinkable, join us in honoring Christina’s legacy and values. With your help, we hope to raise at least $100,000 in her name to support the organizations and places that were the most important to her. If we are successful in raising significantly beyond our goal, we will establish the Christina Yuna Lee Memorial Fund to provide additional support to these organizations and others that were important to Christina in her memory. The first $100,000 will be allocated as follows:
($10,500) Prospect Park Alliance : Prospect Park was Christina’s favorite park in the city. When she lived in Brooklyn, she often went there to meditate, gather with loved ones, and find peace in its wide green expanse. The Prospect Park Alliance employs a wide range of professional staff to maintain the park in all its beauty. We plan to fund the planting of a tree in her name and the installation of a memorial bench.
($26,850) Womankind : Founded in 1982 as the New York Asian Women’s Center, Womankind serves survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and sexual violence of all ages. They provide women access to safe shelter, employment opportunities, holistic health services, English language training, legal immigration assistance, and financial empowerment.
($35,800) Planned Parenthood : As an active donor to Planned Parenthood, Christina was a champion of every woman’s right to choose. Planned Parenthood represents a space of safety, personal value, and empathy. It was vital to Christina to support organizations that provided access to healthcare to women worldwide. We want to continue contributing to Planned Parenthood in her name.
($17,900) Elizabeth Street Garden : Christina believed in the power of green and open spaces as opportunities for self-realization and exploration. Elizabeth Street Garden was one of her favorite places in New York—she often went there to read, sketch, listen to music, and hear poetry. It was her personal oasis in the middle of the city. Committed to preserving and protecting land as a public community green space, the 200-year-old Elizabeth Street Garden is an outdoor recreational and educational space that brings together generations of New Yorkers living in and around Lower Manhattan.
($8,950) SafeWalks : Founded in January 2021, SafeWalks was established in light of the brutal attacks against multiple women at the Morgan L subway station in Brooklyn, New York. SafeWalks matches New Yorkers who feel unsafe while commuting with travel companions. We want to contribute to SafeWalk’s mission to expand to other neighborhoods in the city and provide faster response times.
Christina’s death has shaken us to our core. Please consider taking part in this collective effort to honor Christina’s memory and to help prevent this tragedy from happening to anyone else. Nothing will give her back to us. But with your help, we can make the 35 years she spent on Earth mean something for generations to come.
Thank you,
Christina's family and friends
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