By Ruth Bayang
Northwest Asian Weekly
Jade Garden’s broken glass window (Photo provided by Eric Chan)
“What did we do to deserve this?”
That’s what Eric Chan wrote on the “Support the ID – Community United” Facebook page, while posting a photo of broken storefront windows along King Street and 7th Avenue South.
Jade Garden was one of the businesses affected and Chan’s family owns the restaurant. The window has since been boarded up, thanks to a neighbor.
An artist donated his time and talent to paint a mural on the now boarded-up window (Photo by Assunta Ng)
Like most other restaurants, Jade Garden has experienced an 80% decrease in business.
After working long hours with a skeleton crew at the restaurant, Chan wrote that the vandalism incident “pretty much added the cherry on top for me to explode.” Despite the hardship, Chan said that he has been incredibly moved by the community’s support.
“I was so unaware that our community is coming together to help support us. For the past month and a half, everyone has been feeling hopeless. A sense of just ‘when will it be our turn to closedown.’ After stumbling upon this [Support the ID – Community United” Facebook page], there is a dim light of hope.”
Chan thanked customers for their patience as they work to fulfill orders with limited staff.
“We will not let hate and this broken window deter us from serving the community! It will only make us band together stronger!”
Jade Garden remains open for takeout orders every day, from
9 a.m.-7 p.m. Call 206-622-8181 to place your order.
If you’d like to support restaurants and other small businesses in the International District, you may make a donation at scidpda.org/cidbizrelief.