Good Cause Gifts, Arethusa Farm Dairy and Cafe, and Westfield Bank will join forces for a safely-distanced ‘Tri-bbon Cutting’ event Thursday, signaling a new season for West Hartford businesses coming out of COVID.

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Social enterprise gift shop, Good Cause Gifts will be joined by neighbors and fellow local businesses to celebrate the long-awaited grand opening of their third area location.

The three-business ribbon cutting event begins at 10:30 a.m. on April 22 at Westfield Bank, located at 977 Farmington Ave., and will span a lively stretch of West Hartford Center.

Good Cause Gifts is a social enterprise of Futures Inc., a Connecticut-based organization serving the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with educational support, mentoring, transition planning, job training and placement, independent living and recreation and community volunteerism. Futures Inc. also has a school and administrative office facilities in West Hartford, alongside locations in Middletown, Berlin, New Britain, and Norwich. Good Cause Gifts opened its doors at 973 Farmington Ave. in August of 2020, and is co-located with Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union, but due to the pandemic, was unable to celebrate accordingly.

“Even during the pandemic, we have been overwhelmed by the positive community support for Good Cause Gifts, both in-store and online,” said Futures Inc. President and CEO Pamela DonAroma. “Our staff and consumers have come through this year with incredible grace, armed with lessons in business we would not have learned otherwise, and we are excited for the future of the business and its impact as we come out of the pandemic.”

The three-business grand opening event has been coordinated in partnership with the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Shari Cantor is expected to attend.

“It’s exciting to be at a point where we can celebrate our small business community in this way after such a challenging year,” said Chamber Executive Director, Chris Conway. “The fact that we can shower three new businesses with support is truly a gift and we see this as the start of a new season for our local economy.”

Arethusa Farm Dairy and Cafe is located at 975 Farmington Ave., sandwiched between Good Cause Gifts and Westfield Bank, and all three businesses are located on a very visible stretch of Farmington Avenue that also benefits from wide sidewalks with plenty of outdoor space for guests who want to join in the safely-distanced and largely outdoor festivities.

Arethusa Farm Dairy is located at 975 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford Center. Photo credit: Ronni Newton (we-ha.com file photo

Westfield Bank is located at 977 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford Center. Courtesy photo (we-ha.com file photo)

For more information on this event and to save it to your calendar, visit the Facebook event page.

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