UVA’s Sam Brunelle helps out at Kindness Café + Play

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - A special guest is helping to serve up drinks at the Kindness Café + Play in Charlottesville.

UVA Women’s Basketball player Sam Brunelle worked as a barista at the café early Monday, September 5.

“It’s great to just be back here, what I call home, and to be able to get back to the people that surrounded me and have supported me for so many years,” she said.

The cafe’s goal is to inspire and transform the Charlottesville community.

“Our mission is to employ adults with cognitive disabilities, creating a joyful and peaceful community space,” founder Katie Kishore said.

“You know, I was told so many great things about it,” Brunelle said. “Their initiative, I think, it’s amazing. And so just to be able to be here in this environment is very, it’s a blessing.”

Kishore says Brunelle using her free time to help out shows what type of person she is: “She’s a great basketball player, but more importantly, she’s a really good person and she’s from Charlottesville, right? So having her here knowing that she cares about our work and bringing some extra customers and just gathering a greater group of people today. It’s really exciting for us.”

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