LOVE Matters: Message from Kristen,  Karen and Rita
Channel: GLIDE sf
Date: 14/01/2016

an Francisco, CA – The power of love came to life at GLIDE’s Annual Holiday Jam: Love Matters, on Thursday, December 3 at the Warfield Theatre. The spirited evening of spoken word, storytelling and live music featured inspiring performances by Valerie Simpson, Michael Franti, Justin Vivian Bond, Youth Speaks, Embodiment Project and the incredible GLIDE Ensemble & Change Band along with the emcee prowess of Bay Area radio host and San Francisco Giants announcer Dr. Renel Brooks-Moon. 

“Tonight, we celebrated our shared humanity with music, poetry and joy,” said Reverend Cecil Williams, GLIDE Co-Founder and Minister of Liberation. “On this evening, we honored 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 inspired one another to discover new depths and heights in this continuing journey called community. We explored what matters and together, we learned 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.”

Benefiting Mo’s Kitchen and GLIDE’s programs, the evening’s honorary co-chairs included Richard C. Blum, Senator Dianne Feinstein, The Honorable Willie L. Brown, Jr., Angela Y. Davis, Ambassador James C. Hormel and Michael P. Nguyen, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Each year, the GLIDE Annual 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. 

About GLIDE
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. GLIDE has founded and sustained visionary programming, and achieved tangible results for tens of thousands of individuals and families on the margins, all once thought to be beyond the possible. For additional information, visit glide.org.