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Group Launches Effort to Support Portland's Muslim-Owned Businesses

PORTLAND, Maine - A newly-formed Portland nonprofit says at least 500 people have pledged to support Muslim-owned businesses in the city this weekend.

"We favor a city where people of many different backgrounds and religions can live and work safely," says Patricia Washburn, a member of Progressive Portland, the group behind the effort.

Washburn says the action came about after a Muslim-owned business was vandalized on Christmas Eve. While that incident has not been determined a hate crime by police, Washburn says the group felt the city should do more to support Portland's Muslim citizens.

Washburn says the group has compiled a list of Muslim-owned businesses on its Facebook page - mostly restaurants and markets - in hopes that people will make an effort to shop there.

"I am actually planning to try a Muslim-owned restaurant," she says. "I've never had shawarma and I'm going to try it for the first time."

The buy-in is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.