GLIDE Annual Holiday Jam: Love Matters

GLIDE Holiday Jam, Red Carpet Bay Area
Alicia Engstrom, Hosain Rahman, Felicia Horowitz, Mark Pincus, Ali Pincus

GLIDE Annual Holiday Jam: Love Matters, featured spoken word, storytelling and live music performances from Michael Franti Acoustic Duo, Valerie Simpson, Justin Vivian Bond, Youth Speaks, Embodiment Project and GLIDE Ensemble & Change Band. Love Matters, on December 3, 2015, at The Warfield Theater, was emceed by Bay Area radio host and San Francisco Giants announcer Dr. Renel Brooks-Moon. 

“Tonight, we celebrate our shared humanity with music, poetry and joy,” said Reverend Cecil Williams, GLIDE Co-Founder and Minister of Liberation. “On this evening, we honor those who share their compassion, acceptance and love in order to make a difference. Together, we cast light upon the difficult and shadowed roads to justice and inspire one another to discover new depths and heights in this continuing journey called community. We explore what matters and together, we learn LOVE MATTERS.”

“We are powered by unconditional love and acceptance,” said Janice Mirikitani, GLIDE Co-Founder and Founding President. “We thank our generous supporters for allowing us to fulfill this mission day in and day out. Your unconditional support opens doors of opportunity for all who reach out to us.”

Photos by Drew Altizer Photography

Each year, the GLIDE Holiday Jam raises funds for Mo’s Kitchen and GLIDE’s programs. Located at GLIDE’s Tenderloin headquarters, Mo’s Kitchen serves three meals a day, seven days a week, to San Francisco’s most in-need individuals and families, totaling roughly 800,000 meals annually.

For more than fifty years, GLIDE has worked to create a radically inclusive, just and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization. Located in the culturally rich Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, GLIDE serves a diverse cross-section of homeless, low-income and disenfranchised program participants, providing a wraparound array of programs including:  free meals; HIV/Hep C testing and counseling; housing assistance; domestic violence counseling and abatement; substance abuse recovery; licensed childcare; afterschool and summer programs for youth; a resource center for families; free legal services; and access to free primary and behavioral health care.

— Related: more Red Carpet Bay Area coverage for GLIDE: