Friends, family and community members filled Canton Alley on July 23 to honor the 10-year death anniversary of Donnie Chin, a community guardian and pillar of the Chinatown-International District (CID).
Gathered in front of the Sun May Company, a lively group of people of all age ranges—from a toddler to elders sitting on tiny colorful plastic stools—hugged, reunited with old friends, and made new ones. Many couldn’t believe that a decade had already passed since Chin was shot and killed on July 23, 2015, after being caught in the crossfire of suspected gang violence. The killer remains unidentified and uncharged.
The crowd slowly started to trickle in after 5 p.m. and soon, the alley was packed with people who shared their favorite stories of Chin as they ate cookies, cupcakes, muffins, shumai and shrimp dumplings that were brought by the community to share.
“This would mean a lot for Donnie,” said Chin’s sister, Connie Chin-Magorty. She spoke through tears in the small alleyway. On the walls of Sun May Company—an Asian gift store which their parents ran— were colorful thousand paper origami cranes and bouquets of lavender. There was also a spot to light incense. When her brother was still alive, he would invite neighbors to have hot dogs and stand in front of the shop to talk.
For over thirty years, 59-year-old Chin was seen as a watchdog and protector of his neighborhood. He started community work in junior high with his sister and friend Dean Wong. Chin-Magorty said that growing up in the CID during the ’60s and ’70s, Chin had loved to watch the fire engines roar by their house. In a time before calling 911 and Medic One existed, Chin gave the community the help it needed.
He bought medical equipment and researched emergency aid programs and services. From there, the International District Emergency Center (IDEC) came to be. Established in the 1970s, Chin and other volunteers patrolled the streets together and responded to all types of emergencies like medical, emotional and personal traumas.
“We have no training. What we learned is from our experience on the streets,” Chin said in Finding Home in Chinatown: The Kong Yick Buildings, a documentary produced by the Wing Luke Museum in 1998. “It didn’t take my mother to go to school to be a mother or my father to tell me what’s right or wrong… We learned it from watching other people.”
As a self-taught paramedic, Chin took first aid and CPR classes. He was oftentimes the first to arrive on scene for medical emergencies, long before police or firefighter personnel. His work won the hearts of children, community elders and the respect of his local fire department, Medic One, ambulance services, health centers and the Seattle Police Department.
Wong and Chin also responded to other life occurrences, such as water leaks, blackouts, broken windows and personal safety matters. They collected canned goods so when he and Wong saw homeless seniors rummaging for food in dumpsters behind restaurants, they could give it to them.
“Donnie would be the kind of guy that would see an elderly person crossing the street and go help that person,” Wong said to the gathering.
Chin watched “latchkey children”—those who were at home without parental supervision—or children whose parents would keep them locked inside their apartments and refuse to let them go outside alone for their own safety.
“Donnie is not known for raising kids, but we had a lot of Chinatown kids come to the alley and hang out. Donnie would mentor them, discipline them, teach them all the four-letter words,” Wong said, prompting chuckles from the crowd. “These kids came back to volunteer at the aid stations.”
Dubbed “Donnie’s Kids”, some of them went on to become doctors, nurses, teachers and counselors in places as far as Boston and Los Angeles.
Angela Lee, who has worked as the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS)’s Operations Manager for 16 years, was one of “Donnie’s Kids.” Her family ran a restaurant in the CID for almost two decades next to Sun May Company. She shared that if one of them got in trouble at one end of the district, by the time they crossed the neighborhood back to the restaurant, their parents would already know. News traveled fast since everyone knew each child’s parents.
During the anniversary event, at least two fire trucks were parked on either ends of the alley, with more than a dozen Seattle Fire Department firefighters in attendance. A majority of them wore navy blue t-shirts that had a graphic of a green dragon spitting out fire. It read, “Seattle Fire Department House of the Dragon, Engine 10, Ladder I, In Loving Memory of Donnie Chin.”
Many police officers were in attendance as well, including new Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes. Also present were State Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos and former Councilmember Tanya Woo.
Although IDEC board chain Jamie Lee only knew Chin for a year before he died, she said he 100% gave fun uncle vibes.
“He loved to joke around, but only if he thought you could take it. He kind of had a potty mouth; he cussed a lot,” said Lee. “I think that was kind of the best part about Donnie. He was really fun to be around, and he had this magnetism about his personality.”
This anniversary event was different from that of past years. Lee said they really wanted to host it on the actual day Chin passed.
Although the ceremony was short, Lee said, “He would hate that we’re doing anything at all. He very much hated any attention.”
When Chin was still present, Lee said he would invite people in the neighborhood to the alley to meet, hang out and get to know each other.
“We just hadn’t done that in a really long time, so this year, we decided to do that, and it was almost exactly how he would have done it. Give people a time to show up, eat a hot dog, and just talk to people,” Lee said, regarding a barbecue they hosted weeks prior to Chin’s anniversary. “I think that, to us, was the best for him. It’s about connecting people in the neighborhood and then also [teaching them] about what IDEC does.”
Lee noted that many young people working in the neighborhood didn’t know Chin or what IDEC is. She hopes to continue his legacy through her work at the emergency center, by getting more volunteers and spreading Chin’s story. Their next priorities are to offer community members free first-aid training and provide first-aid stations at upcoming community events.
“It’s hard to think about because he’s been gone for so long. There’s been shifts in the neighborhood, but I think he’d be doing the same thing that he was doing,” Lee said.
A decade has passed, and Chin’s murder remains unsolved. Still, Lee thinks the community and people close to Chin want answers.
“I hope that you keep Donnie’s spirit in your heart,” Chin-Magorty said as tears ran down her face, and she choked up. “He can help you be strong when you need it most. He can help you do the right thing when you’re not sure what to do. He can help you focus on the task at hand because that’s what he always did. And when in doubt, help somebody.”
