Over $300,000 raised for Florida woman critically wounded during MSU mass shooting
Over $300,000 has been raised for a Florida woman who was critically injured Monday during a mass shooting at Michigan State University.
Guadalupe Huapilla-Pérez, a Hospitality Business junior at MSU, is one of five victims who remain in the hospital in critical condition. Another three students perished in the attack, and the gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, MSU police said.
Huapilla-Pérez will spend months receiving medical care and physical therapy, her sister and MSU graduate Selena Huapilla-Pérez said in her GoFundMe campaign.
“She is a long way from returning to us as she was,” Selena wrote on the donation page.
Her sister added that their family immediately traveled to Michigan to be with Lupe, but noted that her parents will be unable to work as bills mount.
“Our family is incredibly moved by the love and support others are pouring into us,” Selena said.
Lupe, as the family calls her, has been breaking barriers that many other migrant families face in the farm-worker town of Immokalee, according to her sister.
“Lupe is incredibly hard-working, focused and ambitious, choosing a career path that’s never been explored in our family,” Selena said. “She’s always one to stand up for our community and speak out for those marginalized voices like our own.”
The National HEP CAMP Association, an organization that serves students from migrant or seasonal farm-worker families, also showed support for Lupe, one of their students at MSU.
“The National HEP CAMP Association shares the tears, grief and pain inflicted on the Michigan State University community, in light of its recent tragedy,” the association said in a Facebook post. “This is a very hard message to write, as HEP CAMP is one big familia, and we all share pain in the face of such tragedy.”
The community of Immokalee High School, where she graduated, is also keeping Lupe in their thoughts.
“We are deeply saddened to hear that Lupita Huapilla, Class of 2020, was among the victims injured at Michigan State University,” the school said in a tweet. “Please have her and her family in your prayers.”
In 2022, Guadalupe Huapilla-Pérez explained to the MSU chapter of the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality, a student organization of which she’s a member, why she is majoring in hospitality.
“I want to go into Hotel Management because I really enjoy fast paced environments and enjoy being around others,” she said. “I hope to learn the behind the scenes of what running a hotel is like and maybe travel abroad!”
This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 6:41 PM.
