JAY — The grand opening of Touch of Class Too, a third store offering donated, used clothing and other items and run by Work First of Farmington, will take place at 10 a.m. Friday at the new location in Jay Plaza, next to Hannaford and Subway.

Work First provides employment to people with intellectual disabilities both within the community and at its two other stores in Farmington, said Linda LaRue-Keniston, executive director.

“After graduating from high school, they come to work for us and we find them work in the Farmington to Jay area,” she said Thursday.

Work First opened its secondhand shop, Touch of Class, on the Wilton Road where it employs 12 people a day, she said. Following the success of that store, it opened a second one on Broadway in Farmington, Touch of Class Too, where another six to eight are employed on a supplemental, part-time basis in conjunction with their work in the community.

Work First started receiving calls asking for a shop south of Farmington and decided to open the Jay store to offer more work to individuals with intellectual disabilities from the surrounding areas, she said. It plans to employ another six to eight people in Jay.

“The customers are terrific and patient. It is a nice place to work,” LaRue-Keniston said.

A bin will be set up outside the Jay store because the organization is dependent on donations from the community. It accepts good, clean, used clothing and accessories.

People with intellectual disabilities then process all donations including laundering, steaming, pricing, sorting, filling all racks and for some, running the cash register, she said.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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