MANSFIELD — A special menu of drinks at 3rd Cup Tea are steeped in a purpose for the month of September, which is National Suicide Prevention Month.
Each London Fog latte, pumpkin chai and raspberry matcha sold will benefit local mental health services thanks to donations from 3rd Cup Tea, Imagination Childcare and Step By Step Childcare.
Alex Goff, development director for Third Street Family Health Services, said he was inspired to start this collaboration to build relationships with businesses outside of the healthcare and nonprofit sectors.
“We’ve collaborated with the Area Agency on Aging for a while and it’s a natural bridge to work with other nonprofits,” Goff said. “But I’m working on other community partnerships, and with Braxton’s Mansplaining support group, this seemed like a great collaboration.”
Goff said he found the idea of a special menu to benefit community services online one day.
“I saw this coffee shop somewhere in Alabama that had built up like $75 for each cup of coffee sold because of all the business and individual matches,” he said.
3rd Cup Tea will donate $1 for each special menu item sold to Third Street’s mental health services. Imagination Childcare and Step by Step Childcare will also match $1 for each drink sold.
“Braxton and the Wurthmann family have been very generous with their matches, and we would welcome any other businesses to join in the initiative,” Goff said.
Goff said businesses, nonprofits or individuals can contact him at GoffA@thirdstreetfamily.org or at 419-961-5644 if they’re interested in matching funds for the whole month or a shorter period of time.
“All the funds raised through this project will go toward Third Street’s mental health services and behavioral health,” he said.
‘Lean on your community’
Braxton Daniels, 3rd Cup Tea owner, said he created the special menu in an effort to cater to different tastes and help customers find a new favorite drink.
“It can be overwhelming coming in here for the first time and not knowing what you want,” Daniels said. “But these are good drinks that are pretty popular, people just don’t always know about them.”
The London Fog latte is only served hot, while the pumpkin chai latte can be hot or iced. Daniels said the raspberry matcha is served iced or in a frappe.
“It tastes like ice cream if you get it in a frappe,” he said. “And I was hoping the pumpkin chai would taste like liquid pumpkin pie.”
In addition to supporting a good cause, Daniels said this collaboration means a lot to him because he went to high school with Goff and Jordon Wurthmann.
“We’re all Madison graduates, so it’s nice for alumni to come together to make a difference,” he said.
Wurthmann, vice president of business development for Purdy Construction Company, said he didn’t drink tea until Daniels bought the business.
“This is a really neat project because Braxton, Alex and I are young professionals finding our footing in the community,” Wurthmann said. “And it’s a great representation of what can happen when peers come together.
“Yes, this is financially benefitting mental health care, but one of the best things you can do when you’re struggling is reach out to a friend and lean on your community. So the three of us are trying to represent that as well.”
Non-tea drinkers or those who want to donate to Third Street directly can do so at https://thirdstreetfamily.org/node/217.
3rd Cup Tea will also have a special “Spongebob Musical” menu from Sept. 5–10 to help promote the Renaissance Theatre’s SpongeBob Musical performances Sept. 8–10.
“A business needs to make money, but that’s not what I’m all about,” Daniels said. “I want to show people that we care about community efforts and to be that place that you can visit and find support.”
3rd Cup Tea is located at 101 N. Main St. in Mansfield. Its hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday–Saturday.
