Humanitarian Serves as Honorary Chair of Lifebridge Health Glazer Legacy Society
Here’s the kind of man Lowell Glazer is. One time he got a letter from the principal of a school for deaf children asking for $35 to send a student to Ocean City. “I called her up and asked how many children were involved in the trip and it turned out there were 20 or 25,” Glazer recalls. “I told her I’d rather send all of them than just send one. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done because it made a big impact.”
Making a big impact on LifeBridge is something Glazer knows a lot about. In addition to many years spent chairing the Sinai Hospital board, his combined giving to LifeBridge entities—Sinai and Northwest hospitals and Levindale—totals almost $3 million. Now he is serving as honorary chair of the LifeBridge Health Glazer Legacy Society, which recognizes donors who have included the health system in their wills.
Glazer says he, “came from nothing.” He remembers being delighted to earn $1 in Christmas tips on his newspaper route in Baltimore.
In 1966 he and his brother-in-law, Leonard J. Attman, founded A & G Construction and began building apartments, homes, and shopping complexes all over the state. They amassed a large portfolio and, although the pair no longer works together, they remain close or, as Glazer describes it, “more like brothers than brothers-in-law.” Today Glazer is president of Glazer Construction, for which he works part-time.
“I wasn’t in a position to give until I was in my late 20s or 30s, and then it was very minimal gifts. After working at A & G Construction with my brother-in-law, I got into a position where I could give more to charity.”
Here’s the kind of man Lowell Glazer is. Asked where his passion for philanthropy comes from, he says, “I guess it’s that I want to help people and make the world a little better. Every person can do something, and I try to look out for mankind as much as I can. I try to do something good every day.
Glazer has certainly done a lot of good at LifeBridge.
His favorite gift to the health system, he says, was the Lowell and Harriet Glazer Atrium. [Glazer’s wife Harriet passed away in March.] “It’s something that really stands out in my mind. It’s very airy and relaxing. It doesn’t feel like a hospital waiting room. Harriet and I dedicated it to the employees and doctors and nurses because they are the ones who really make the hospital what it is.”
A Gift That Lives On
Now Glazer is focusing his charitable efforts on the LifeBridge Glazer Legacy Society. “When most people think of a legacy, they think of not being alive. What you have to do is think of a legacy as a way to be active in the future and help LifeBridge do more great things. If you look at where LifeBridge was 15 years ago and where it is now, just imagine how much more it could do in the next 30 or 75 years if people start leaving legacy gifts to it now.
“LifeBridge deals with the whole community. You can help the elderly, children, and families, and you can support preventative health education. It’s a really terrific organization that does a wonderful, wonderful job. So I am helping it financially as much as I can through my legacy gift, and I am reaching out to people who are in a position to make one, too.
“The gift doesn’t have to be a large amount; it can be whatever amount you are comfortable with. But at least get that amount in your mind and in your heart and know that you will have done something that will live long after you.”
Glazer says estate planning can be a tough sell because people don’t want to think about not being alive. He urges people to look at it this way: “The government is going to come in after your death and take your money. If you just give it away to the government, who knows what will happen with your money? Setting up a legacy gift gives you a say in that.
“Take charge now for when you’re not going to be here,” he advises. “Set aside funds for the good of the community, for whatever is important to you. For me, it’s health, education, and religion.”
Making Connections with People in Need
Glazer reiterates that it is not the amount but the impact of gifts that counts. Case in point—and another example of the kind of man Lowell Glazer is:
“For our 50th wedding anniversary, Harriet and I didn’t want to have a big party. So I told Harriet that I wanted to give away $50 bills in honor of our 50th wedding anniversary. Fifty dollars is not a lot of money, but in certain circumstances, it can have a big impact. So we just went on with our normal daily life, and when we saw someone in need, we gave them $50. I still have a list of those gifts.”
Many were given in Florida, where Glazer spends winters.
“I was in a Publix market and there was a young woman behind me in line. She looked like she was in need, so I said to the cashier, ‘Please put her items on my bill.’ The lady said, ‘No—you don’t have to do that,’ but when I left, I slipped a $50 bill into her cart. As I got in my car, the cashier came out and said the lady wanted my address, and a week or so later I got a letter from her. She said she didn’t use the money to pay for the items in her cart; she set it aside for her son’s education.
“That’s the kind of thing I do. It’s just a certain feeling I get when I make a connection with someone and I know that the $50 is going to make an impact.”
That he is able to feel this way is inspiring, given the personal tragedies he has weathered. In addition to his wife dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease, his daughter Marci Crosby died of cancer at the age of 34, after giving birth to her baby. Glazer has, as they say, an attitude of gratitude.
“I appreciate everything I have, and if somebody would have told me when I was 12 years old and delivering newspapers that I would be where I am now, I wouldn’t have believed it. And I never forget it. I never want to forget.”
Here’s the kind of man Lowell Glazer is. A grateful one.