COLOR OF COMMUNITY: The Asheville Quarantine Group, a Facebook hangout for locals seeking connection and good cheer during the coronavirus-induced stay home, stay safe order, hosted a contest for coloring the back cover of Mountain Xpress' issue of April 22. Congratulations to child winner Oliver, 9, and adult winner Latisha Taylor!
“Everything we do is to keep up morale for Asheville while we’re stuck at home,” says Jax Hammond, founder of Asheville Quarantine Group. Since its launch in late March, the Facebook group has continued to grow, now totaling over 5,000 members. Its mission is to create a sense of community while adhering to county and state orders. Online events include daily happy hours, “Fancy Friday” dress-up days and an ongoing fundraiser to donate pizzas to local nurses, doctors and grocery store workers.
“We’re trying to keep everything in this group as lighthearted as possible,” says Hammond. “Even though it’s very dark times. … This is kind of like a sanctuary, so that you can have a break and take a breather and make some friends and do some good for the community. ”
Inspired by Xpress’ recent back cover coloring page provided by Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co., the group organized a coloring contest. Thirty participants, both children and adults, submitted their works. Pictured are the two winners. Congrats!
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About Thomas Calder
Thomas Calder received his MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program. His writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, the Miracle Monocle, Juked and elsewhere. His debut novel, The Wind Under the Door, is now available.
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The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.