Glide Holiday Jam features Patti LaBelle

Yeah, the great Patti LaBelle. She is a headliner of a special concert this evening at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco. It's the Glide Foundation's annual holiday jam. Joining us in studio to talk more about Glide's most successful fundraiser each year, Carl Rubellard, Chief Communication and Public Affairs Officer at Glide. Carl, thanks for joining us again this morning. Thank you for having me, Andre. It's great to be back. Wow, this is a pretty good one. You know, you're going to have Patti LaBelle at this big event happening this evening. How are you feeling about it? Oh, we are so excited. The godmother of soul. Yes. I mean, there's something about Patti. We have been wanting her to come for years. And the fact that she is here celebrating the 41st year of our holiday jam. In a moment in the Bay where we're just so excited, the Valkyries won, there's an energy in the air, and we are ready to party tonight, and we are excited. Wow, all right, so tell us a little bit about what makes this event so special for the Bay Area. You know, one thing, I think it really kicks off the holiday season. It's that reminder, this is November, here we go. This event has been happening for 41 years. It really brings together Glide's core values of unconditional love and radical inclusion. And by that, I mean there is a seat at the table for everyone. Anyone you see in San Francisco, the Bay Area, they are welcome to be here. And, you know, it just brings people together in the spirit of love. And that is what GLIDE is all about. One of the people that you're going to be honoring this year is Nancy Pelosi, the retiring congresswoman who has been a champion of this community for decades. Tell us a bit about, you know, honoring her this year and what that will look like. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, what a time to honor Speaker Pelosi, one of the most powerful women in politics, the most powerful speaker of the House. She's being honored with the Lizzie Glide Award. Lizzie Glide is who actually founded Glide nearly 100 years ago in 1929. And she really brought with her a spirit of... Progressivism, a spirit of compassion, a spirit of love. So when we look to honor someone, we are looking to honor someone who has really dedicated their life to human rights, to people's rights, to LGBTQ rights. And there is no one better than Speaker Pelosi at this moment, and we are so excited to honor her. So you're expecting her to be at the event? I mean, she's up and about all the time. I mean, she's always doing something around the community. But you're expecting her to be there? She will be there. We are excited. She will be honored on stage. to speak, and yes, she will be present. Tell us about her work with your organization over the last, you know, decades, several decades. Yeah, well, I believe she is wrapping up 40-some years in Congress. She was actively involved with Janice Mirikitani and Reverend Cecil Williams. You know, Speaker Pelosi came out really thinking about the AIDS crisis when she first got into Congress. And that work... Cecil Williams was one of the very first public figures to really embrace people of the LGBTQ origin, gay marriage. He really looked at these issues early on. So that work brought him in close contact with Speaker Pelosi. She's been an amazing advocate for GLIDE all of these years. And now with our CEO and president, Dr. Gina Fromer, we are going to take the stage with her and we're going to honor her for that lifetime achievement. I want to talk a little bit about, because I might realize that some people might not really understand what Glide is all about. Can you just really describe what services you all offer to the community? Yeah, I mean, Glide is an iconic institution in San Francisco. We are really known for three doors. One of them is our famous Glide Memorial Church. This is a place of radical inclusion. We always say it's a church for people who are afraid of churches. Everyone is welcome. It doesn't matter who you are. A second door that is really familiar to Glide is our services. So that is people who are actually looking for a hot meal. It's women and families who are looking for extra support. People struggling with addiction. People who just need that extra helping hand. So that is our programs door. And then our third door is actually our Center for Social Justice. So this is really where we're looking to make systems change. We're looking to repair holes in that safety net. To really fight for oppressed people who have been, you know, wronged by systems. This is where we're going to City Hall and Sacramento and D.C. and really fighting for the values that we aspire to live by. So you're not, it's not just a service where people come to you. You're actually going out and pushing for the change. Absolutely. Wow. All right. I just want people to understand that. Key examples are, you know, when food stamps have been cut and people, you know, around the Bay Area and around the country are suffering from this lack of food. We will really step in and work with Speaker Pelosi, work with our local legislators, work with our state legislators and say, this is wrong. We need to make this change. I should also mention, you know, some people who, you know, may not know someone who's dealing with drug addiction, that type of thing, you know, it can, you can seem really lost, you know, having had friends that have gone through this, you seem really lost, nowhere to turn. And that is where Glide comes in. At least there's something you can at least turn to and say, hey, you know, if you don't have, you know, you can't go to those $30,000 a month, you know, rehab facilities, there's a place to at least help you and try to get the process started of trying to kick the habit. Absolutely. You know, and we are lucky in that we see that change inspired every day. I mean, we had a gentleman come to us about a year ago. He had nothing. He was really lost in his addiction. Thank you. And he simply started meeting with one of our case navigators. And it wasn't like, you've got to do this. You need to do that. She really understood that he needed a listening ear. It's a slow process at times. It's a deliberate process. And Glide is committed to being there every step of the way. So he has been reunited with his family. He has a job. I mean, I always wish people would see those turnaround scores. That's what I'm talking about. That's what people need to understand about what services you offer. All right. The Glide Holiday Jam. 2026 starts at 5.30 this evening at the Warfield. Here it is on your screens right there. Headliner, of course, Pat LaBelle. And other entertainers include the Glide Ensemble and the Change Band. For ticket information, go to Glide website, the Glide website, glide.org. Carl, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you, Andre. There are still a few balcony seats left, so get in there and act quick. Hey, it's the start of the holiday season. Come join us today, yeah, for sure. All right, Carl, thank you so much. We appreciate it. All right, I'll send it over to you in the traffic center, too.