Coronavirus: Amor Mexico’s planned celebration of community cancelled
A popular Blackburn restaurant has cancelled a grassroots community event designed to promote social cohesion and celebrate diversity due to coronavirus fears.
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A Blackburn restaurant owner has cancelled a grassroots Harmony Day event coronavirus fears ramp up.
Amor Mexico’s Amy To was expecting about 50 people to come to a planned mural painting day on March 21.
They were going to be provided with paintbrushes and invited to contribute to a mural on side fence of Amor Mexico’s Blackburn Rd property.
The event was organized in a bid to promote social cohesion but Ms To said she cancelled it because she was mindful of her “social responsibility”.
“With what’s recently happening on a global scale and also from the government’s suggestion to be mindful of social gatherings, I thought it was best to cancel,” she said.
“I just thought we needed to put public health and the best interests of the community first.”
Instead, diners will be given the chance to contribute to the mural over a two-week period from March 21.
“Rather than having 50 odd people sharing paintbrushes on one day, I thought it was smarter to spread it out over a two-week period,” Ms To said.
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Ms To said she had hoped the artwork would become a legacy of the restaurant’s sense of community.
“It is my hope Amor’s community mural is a platform for people to engage and create stories and special memories of how they created the community mural,” she said.
The restaurant reopened in Blackburn Rd in January after shutting up shop at its Forest Hill venue last September.
Restaurateurs Amy and Alan To were overwhelmed by support from more than 50 regular customers who joined them for their final night last year.
Diners filled a 400-page book with letters and stories about their love for Amor Mexico.