Volunteer Profile: Mayra Cuevas

Mayra is one of the Cafe's managers, and was  the primary project manager during the initial fundraising and build-out efforts to get the Cafe off the ground.  When she's not working full-time at CNN, you can find her at the Cafe or at Rameshori Kadampa Buddhist Center, where she is the Administrative Director.

Age: 29
Occupation: Broadcast Journalist
Favorite Menu Item: It's impossible to pick just one!

Why do you volunteer at the World Peace Café?
It is such a rare opportunity to be part of something as unique and special as the World Peace Café. This place touches the lives of so many people every day in the most positive way, by opening the door to the possibility of peace within their own heart. I love the idea of making a difference in a person's day simply by offering them a smile, serving them in a loving way, or listening to how their day is going. People really appreciate being able to make connections with others in their community.

What has been your most "interesting" experience volunteering at the Café so far?
The day before Mother's Day, our chef Tony was preparing some lasagnas for the Mother's Day brunch. He had spent hours working on the sauce, the veggies, the pasta and assembling the dish. Finally he was done! He grabbed the container with the prepared lasagna, his hands slipped, the container went flying in the air and the lasagna landed all over his feet. Chris and I were standing in front of him, and the three of us just looked at it other. After a second of silence and disbelief we all just burst out laughing! We laughed until we had tears in our eyes! It was so wonderful to just laugh in the face of such difficulty. I wish this was always the case.