Sudbury Business Gives Away Masks To Get Through Pandemic

SUDBURY, MA — Jasmin Taliadouros couldn't have predicted that a global pandemic would strike Massachusetts just a few months after she opened her new medical spa in Sudbury.

But Taliadouros didn't panic, just the opposite: she decided to start giving out free items to anyone who visited her Boston Post Road clinic. It was both an effort to help people get through the pandemic, and to let people know that the Infinity MedSpa had come to town.

"We're just trying to reach out and let people know we're here," she said.

In late April, she began handing out masks to anyone who wanted one — just a few days before Gov. Charlie Baker mandated masks in public.

Taliadouros sourced masks from local tailors and craftspeople. She also made contact with a group in New Hampshire, the Shamrock Sewers of St. Patrick Academy, which donated some 300 masks. The St. Mary's Catholic Church Thrift Shop in Ayer donated material for the mask effort.

And it worked — she gave out about 600 masks within about seven hours, she said.

She has since restocked her mask supply, and changed up her effort: now she's asking for donations to the Sudbury Community Food Pantry in exchange for a mask. So far she's raised about $500, although demand for masks has waned as Massachusetts has flattened the coronavirus curve. (She still has masks in stock, but asks that anyone who needs one call ahead.)

Taliadouros opened her clinic in November after years of working in other medical spas. She and her husband, George, have also always focused on raising money for charity, she said.

She was planning to hold an in-person fundraiser at the Wayside Inn in November to celebrate her spa's one-year anniversary. But instead, she's planning to start the celebration early. This summer, she'll begin offering 20 percent discounts to clients who donate $20 to the Sudbury Community Food Pantry.

Now that the state is in part two of the phase two reopening plan, she's been able to open up her spa to more customers. The spa employs two nurse practitioners who administer a variety of cosmetic and medical treatments, and Taliadouros is hoping business improves enough over the summer that she can hire more staff.

Taliadouros thinks it's possible that coronavirus will come back in the fall, but she's confident she has the gusto to make it through.

"Mark my words, we will make it," she said.