What Kal Penn calls turning bigotry into love is a powerful force indeed. 
 
 The actor flipped a vile social media comment on its head Saturday, using the message of hate to rally support for Syrian refugees to the tune of $50,000. 
 
 Penn shared a screenshot of what appeared to be an Instagram comment in which someone said "you don't belong in this country you fucking joke." He linked to a crowdfunding page entitled, appropriately enough, "Donating to Syrian Refugees in the Name of the Dude Who Said I Don't Belong in America." 
 
 To the dude who said I don't belong in America, I started a fundraising page for Syrian Refugees in your name. https://t.co/NOR5P48fBi pic.twitter.com/jtJOsK9GrU — Kal Penn (@kalpenn) January 28, 2017 
 
 To the dude who said I don't belong in America, I started a fundraising page for Syrian Refugees in your name. (Clickable link in my profile if you would like to donate!) https://www.crowdrise.com/donating-to-syrian-refugees-in-the-name-of-the-dude-who-said-i-dont-belong-in-america/fundraiser/kalpenn A photo posted by Kal Penn (@kalpenn) on Jan 28, 2017 at 11:56am PST 
 
 The fundraiser was launched one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order widely banning many Muslim refugees and visitors from the United States. Syrian refugees are banned indefinitely. 
 
 "We are better than the hateful people who tell us we don't belong in our own country, that America can't be a beacon of freedom and hope for refugees from around the world," Penn wrote on the crowdfunding page. "We will turn their bigotry, along with the President's, into love." 
 
 He set a fundraising goal of $50,000 to go to the International Rescue Committee, an aid group that supports refugees. Less than four hours after Penn announced the effort on Twitter and Instagram, contributions had already topped $36,000. 
 
 @kalpenn $30,000! So much love. I'm raising the goal to 50k, let's get there! This is incredible. Thank you! 🇺🇸✌🏽 https://t.co/NOR5P48fBi pic.twitter.com/PjbSrW2I1S — Kal Penn (@kalpenn) January 28, 2017 
 
 Penn, whose birth name is Kalpen Modi, was born in New Jersey to parents who immigrated to the United States from India. He became famous acting in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle in 2004, and has appeared in many other movies and TV shows. He currently stars in the ABC series Designated Survivor. 
 
 From 2009 to 2010, he served as associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement under President Barack Obama's administration. ||||| A photo series on the popular Humans of New York Facebook page may have went viral and captured the nation’s attention last Tuesday, but for Daniel Kang, the post really hit home. 
 
 When Kang, a junior studying computer science at the University of Michigan, heard that the refugee pictured and his family were relocating to his hometown of Troy, Mich., he said he knew he had to help. 
 
 “I was really inspired by how intelligent he was and I knew a lot of people wanted to welcome him, so I thought, why not it be me?” he said. 
 
 On the Humans of New York Facebook page with over 16 million likes — including comments from President Obama — the seven-part picture series’ captions detail one Syrian scientist and his family’s tale of loss after a missile strike destroyed their home, forcing them to to flee to Turkey, now with plans of coming to the United States. 
 
 “Everything ended for us that day. That was our destiny. That was our share in life,” the scientist said. Battling stomach cancer, the loss of a home, career and seven family members, the man, whose name remains confidential to protect his identity as a refugee, expressed his hope for a new life in the United States. 
 
 “I learned today that I’m going to Troy, Michigan,” he said. “I know nothing about it. I just hope that it’s safe and that it’s a place where they respect science. I just want to get back to work. I want to be a person again. I don’t want the world to think I’m over. I’m still here.” 
 
 Knowing that refugees come to the United States with little more than they can carry, Kang quickly organized a crowdfunding campaign to help establish the man in his new home. 
 
 In four days, the GoFundMe page has raised over $16K in donations from over 700 people. On Saturday afternoon, actor Edward Norton also began a fundraiser for the scientist, raising even more for the refugee who says he “just wants to be a person again.” 
 
 “The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Kang. “A lot of people thanked me for doing a nice thing but I really feel like I was doing what anyone else would have done.” 
 
 Kang said he’s received many messages from people expressing their gratitude, those who want to reach out to the man personally, as well local companies interested in working with the scientist. This includes invitations to lecture at local colleges, research job opportunities and potential help from local medical facilities in treating the man’s stomach cancer. 
 
 “There’s definitely a lot of interest in helping him out,” he said. 
 
 The biggest concern, said Kang, are those skeptical of how the money will reach the man. 
 
 Kang, who has successfully crowdfunded in the past, is working closely with GoFundMe, the local refugee relocation agency Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, and is in communication with the Humans of New York staff to make sure all funding goes to the scientist. 
 
 In the end, Kang said he just hopes the scientist receives the welcome he deserves. 
 
 “If I could talk to him right now, I’d just tell him how sorry I am for everything he’s been through and that he’s coming to a great place. One of the things he said that resonated with me the most is that ‘I hope Troy is a place that appreciates science.’ 
 
 I’d say out of all the cities in Michigan, Troy is the best place to raise a family, be a scientist and we can’t wait to have him.” 
 
 Oona Goodin-Smith is a student at Oakland University and a member of the USA TODAY College contributor network.
– Kal Penn has just turned lemons into lemonade—some pretty darn valuable lemonade. On Saturday the actor tweeted what looked to be an Instagram comment that read in part "you don't belong in this country you f---ing joke." Penn wrote, "To the dude who said I don't belong in America, I started a fundraising page for Syrian Refugees in your name." And the page—which states "We will turn their bigotry, along with the President's, into love"—has gone wild. As of early Monday, more than $500,000 has been raised on the CrowdRise site; the money will go to the International Rescue Committee, Mashable reports. That's way more than the original goal, as Penn, the New Jersey-born son of immigrants from India, pointed out on Twitter. He observed Sunday morning that "If we hit $250k, that's 100x more than our original goal! How's that for showing the world who we are?"