Elegant Nails: Mask Donations during COVID-19
Cultural Wealth Wednesdays
Jade Duong of Elegant Nails & Spa believes the best way to describe the business she co-founded a decade ago is as a family. From their employees to their clients, they treat everyone who walks through the doors as a member of the Elegant Nails & Spa family. It is a feeling reciprocated by her customers during COVID-19 as they have continued to support the business by ordering products and sending messages of encouragement. Highly appreciative of the support of her customers, Jade sought out ways to do her part and help those who have helped her.
Since opening, Jade’s mother has made the face masks regularly used by Elegant Nails & Spa employees. As the effects of COVID-19 began to spread throughout Waco, Jade thought of her clients, and how they and their loved ones needed masks too so she began to make extras for them to use. From there Jade learned that local healthcare providers were low on masks and joined the Waco Mask Seamstress Facebook group to donate masks to our first responders. With COVID-19 slowing her business traffic, Jade found that she had an abundance of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and latex gloves. Rather than preserving these supplies until business returned to normal, Jade used these items to create care packages to donate for free to area seniors.
Jade believes that "one person cannot do it all, it has to be teamwork. Our individual acts can inspire people to participate in making our community strong." For Jade leadership takes many forms, all resulting in the improvement of our society. Baylor is honored to celebrate the community leadership of Jade Duong and to highlight the work she is doing to make Waco better for us all.