SEATTLE — A beloved south Seattle Kung Fu studio was on the brink of closure. Now, the owner of the small business said he'll be able to stay open.
That's all thanks to the community for fighting to keep Jeffrey Chon's south Seattle business, "Junhong's Kung Fu Club," alive with donations.
"We've been trying to do our best to support the community for the past 14 years and our community is the one who saved us," said Chon.
KING 5 spoke with Chon on Sunday. At the time, he thought the end was near.
"I pretty much accepted that we were going to close, and I pretty much was planning for what would be next," said Chon.
Chon owes his landlords more than $8,000 in rent, which was put off during the height of the pandemic. Despite the financial setbacks, he said he kept his rates low, at nearly one-third of what other studios request.
"Provide safe, affordable, accessible training for anyone. And a lot of people have given me advice to raise my prices or do different things to make it financially easier to operate, but honestly, I would never compromise on my mission here," Chon said.
"We got a huge explosion of donations on our GoFundMe page. So many people who I know - I actually had not told them that we were considering closing down - called me, texted me, emailed me, just sending us lots of support, lots of love," said Chon.
He's grateful for the generous supporters and said the money will go to his debt and will help pay his staff as he continues to serve the community he loves, hopefully for years to come.
"We really couldn't keep doing this without them. We really had to rely on our community during the pandemic and they absolutely came through for us," said Chon.