Mary Glide

“I’m the proud great-great-granddaughter of Lizzie Glide. Almost 100 years ago, she purchased a parcel of land at the intersection of Ellis and Taylor streets in San Francisco. Two years later, construction of GLIDE Memorial United Methodist Church was completed. The cornerstone still reads, “A house of prayer for all people.”

As a younger person, I was always curious about our family’s connection. My mom had us kids volunteering in the kind of things that GLIDE was doing like handing out toys to children and stuffing envelopes for advocacy work. Even without the history, my family culture of giving back to the community was strong.

Then one day I walked into GLIDE and saw all of these people working to try to make things better in a culture of acceptance for all. It’s very inspiring and I’m energized every time that I walk in, which gets me through the next week.

My family and GLIDE have inspired me to continue my commitment to our community. I’ve participated in a mentoring program for women in tech, I chaired the board of Mary Elizabeth Inn (founded by Lizzie Glide), and in 2010, I started GLIDE Kids, a program that runs concurrent with Sunday Celebration, giving children an opportunity to be creative and experience community through storytelling. We let these kids form their own opinions and they come out stronger.

Our family loves attending Sunday Celebration, and I'm proud that my children are already active members of the broader GLIDE family.

I'm currently the Vice Chair of the GLIDE Foundation Board as well as a board member of the Glide Memorial Church, and I am incredibly proud of my family's legacy of providing critically needed services and spiritual love, support, and community to our most vulnerable neighbors in need for almost 100 years.

It’s important to help other organizations while we are here. Future generations need to have this same community and a place to go when they need a hand. I’m proud to have included GLIDE in my estate plan, among other nonprofits, to keep on doing great work after I’m gone.”

Would you like to join Mary in making a transformative legacy gift to GLIDE? Need more information or have questions? Please contact Planned Giving at 415-674-6186 or legacygiving@GLIDE.org and we’ll be happy to assist you!