Kal Penn

Actor Kal Penn was having the last laugh when an online troll questioned his origins and called him a “joke,” even as the star turned the nasty comment into an inspiring cause, raising more than $500,000 in a few hours for Syrian refugees.

Penn, who went on to become an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, tweeted a picture of the vile comment on his Instagram account which read: “You don’t belong in this country you … joke.”

Penn, who was born to Indian parents in the state of New Jersey, tweeted the picture with a link to a fundraising page, he created under the name “donating to Syrian refugees in the name of the dude who said I don’t belong in America.”

“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. We will turn their bigotry, along with the President’s, into love,” he wrote on the crowdfunding page.

His post went viral on social media and only half an hour after the page was created, $5,000 had already been donated.

Within a few hours, he smashed his $25,000 target.

“This is some serious love! Let’s keep going,” he tweeted.

He increased his goal to $50,000 and less than a day after creating the page, he had raised $167,090 and counting.

By Monday evening, Penn had raised $516,407.

[vuukle]