Second Acts: A mission trip jolted her to become an entrepreneur
'Tea is a tool' for Rhonda Griffin and the nonprofit she created to improve the lives of a community in Nicaragua.
Editor’s note: Are you curious about people who have taken bold steps to redefine their lives? This week, we’re introducing you to inspiring journeys of individuals who have embraced change, pivoted careers and pursued new passions — even later in life.
After witnessing extreme poverty in Nicaragua, she couldn’t bear the thought of not helping. So she created a charity centered on tea.
By Amber Veverka
It was the smell of the landfill that did it.
Rhonda Griffin was just supposed to be a chaperone for Monroe-area teens on a mission project in Nicaragua. Fly in, make sure the kids stay safe and on track, fly home. What happened instead was a shock that ultimately jolted Griffin into entrepreneurship — at an age when many are imagining a glide path to empty nesting and retirement.
When Griffin arrived at the barrio where the group was to assist nonprofit New Life Nicaragua in its work to feed area children, she was shaken by what she saw.
Before her stretched a landfill, mountains of smoldering trash. People roamed the craters of burning garbage collecting items to sell. “Across the road from the landfill were small huts, as far as you can see,” Griffin said. “You see the smoke burning. I still smell it here. I don’t forget that smell.”
The Christian mission organization ran a meal program, taught job skills and built modest housing for people trapped in extreme poverty. “I was just shocked to see women struggle to provide the basic needs of food, water and education for their children,” said Griffin. “It was really hard, especially for the single moms.”
When Griffin returned to North Carolina, she was haunted.
“I’d go through the Chick-fil-A line and we’re happy because we’re home and everything’s perfect,” she said. “I thought, ‘My family has been so blessed. My husband has a successful business. I’m a stay-at-home mom.’”
The dissonance inside her just would not go away. And that’s why today, at age 55, Griffin has just finished her first year running A Cause For Tea, a tea shop operating out of a historic home in Monroe.
Hosting tea parties came naturally to Rhonda Griffin, so when she sought a way to raise money to support a community in Nicaragua, hosting charity tea events seemed like the perfect way to do it. (Photos by Amber Veverka)
Brewing up a mission
Griffin is a lifelong Monroe resident and a graduate of Queens University, where she earned an arts degree. She married Macon, her middle school sweetheart, and they have three children. She had a knack for design and a flair for event planning. And then there was tea.