Kathleen Kim knows all too well that losing your home and belongings in a fire is inexplicably shocking and devastating.
She and her family lost their New York City apartment to a faulty contractor with a blow torch just before Christmas in 2023. As if the stress and grief that comes with that isn’t devastating enough, thieves came in before they could come back to gather their things and assess the damage. Not only did they take money and jewelry (including Kim’s wedding ring), but they also made out with a family heirloom that meant far more than its monetary worth.
Kim’s aunt had gifted her mother a jade necklace as a way to recognize her bravery when she moved and “made it” in the United States. Kathleen says her Korean family doesn’t often recognize each other with words of affirmation, but rather with gestures of recognition like this one. When Kim landed her role as Ji-young, the first Asian-American muppet on Sesame Street, her mother handed the necklace down to her in recognition of what she is doing for the Korean community.
She’s now calling on TikTok to help get her necklace back.
The TikTok community certainly heard their call, flocking to the comments in support and offering well wishes, even tagging people and accounts they thought could help Kim. They recognized how powerful jade jewelry was to her and her community and promised to spread the word in whatever way they could. Some people even told her to sue her apartment complex, considering the break-in that left her without her necklace seemed to have been done by someone who already had access to the building, be it a cleaning crew, building management, or even the NYFD.
People advised her to check Etsy for restrung and resold necklaces, post on New York City Reddit pages, and pop in some pawn shops in the surrounding area, some even searched themselves.
According to the International Gem Society, jade jewelry is a symbol of nobility and wealth. It’s even considered to be a protecting agent for generations. According to ancient Chinese tradition, it’s representative of charity, equity, wisdom, and courage. It was also a sign of nobility and fortune for many cultures around the globe, making the impact of Kim’s family receiving it all the greater. She shared that despite financial ups and downs, her mother always held on to that necklace.
Kim made a follow-up video thanking everyone who reached out to help and share words of encouragement and stories of their own. She said that she hasn’t done a lot of the searching herself because it’s so painful, but she’s had a community that has shown up and risen to the occasion. Kim refuses to lose hope, and so do her followers. The internet is a powerful place and the Operation Jade rescue mission continues on.