Nothing is so beautiful as seeing our Beloved Community come together on Christmas.
Where else but at GLIDE can you find unhoused people, elders, low-income immigrant families, San Francisco dignitaries, and good-hearted volunteers all coming together in the same place to embrace the magic of the season?
During our Christmas Eve Luncheon, Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie and his family made the rounds, greeting our clients and volunteering in our kitchen. Thanks to Joe Betz and San Francisco’s House of Prime Rib, we were able to serve over one thousand pounds of prime rib. We delivered meals all over the city as well as feeding thousands of people right here at GLIDE!
Our feasting made the news: as our President & CEO Dr. Gina said, “It just gets more and more festive every year!”
Assemblymember Matt Haney dropped by to carve turkeys, and afterwards he took the podium at Celebration, commenting on the deeper spiritual meaning of his favorite Christmas movies.
Haney’s comments on How the Grinch Stole Christmas filled the church with cheers and laughter. “There was every reason for them to say to the Grinch, ‘lock him up. Take him away.’ But instead what they said was, ‘the power of love and compassion can reach even this individual.’ There must have been a GLIDE in Whoville!” cried Haney. We all appreciated the profound social justice message the Assemblymember found in the Dr. Seuss-inspired movie.
Our Minister of Celebration Marvin K. White also brought justice to our minds this Christmas with his message. “Mary and Joseph found themselves in Bethlehem with no roof over their heads. They were displaced, navigating a crisis that resonates with the millions today who face housing insecurity. What does the Christ child’s birth teach us? It teaches us that love’s dream is bigger than a manger. The manger was a temporary stopgap in the divine plan. The promise of Christ’s birth is not that we glorify the instability of that moment, but that we recognize the urgency to create a stability for all of us… Christmas means we must build a world where no child is born homeless ever again!”
Amen to that. It’s thanks to your volunteering and generosity that GLIDE is able to help unhoused people and even prevent homelessness. Our holiday meals do more than just feed people – they help more people learn about GLIDE and our life-saving services, so we can continue to reduce human suffering now and in the future. We’d love your help reaching our goal to help even MORE people in 2025 – would you consider making a holiday donation?
After our church’s morning Christmas celebration, hundreds of volunteers helped us feed the city with turkey and ham. Here you can watch the video of our volunteers serving food.
This year, our kindness, warmth and love was set against the darkness, the rain, and the hatred in our world. This year, we brought joy to the streets of San Francisco.
This year, we took a stand for unconditional love. Thanks to you, we succeeded!