Community leaders Glen and Mary Porter are dedicated to their volunteer efforts

It is endearing, truly, that when you speak to Glen and Mary Porter, they often refer to each other as Mr. and Mrs. “Mr. Porter believes …” Mary will begin, and her husband will recognize her similarly. They’ll laugh when admitting that they’ve got their own pet names within the family, but in their public life, the salutations of love and respect come naturally. 

The Porters have never been school teachers — Glen owned his own construction company and Mary assisted him in the business after she was a CPA — but in a lifetime of service and volunteering, they have touched countless lives, and for so many in the communities of South Los Angeles, the couple is recognized for teaching lessons about life and how to give back.

In the same week they received a Black History Month award (February 2025) from Los Angeles County’s Second District for their service, Mary Porter said in an interview, “It’s not for us. It’s really for the community.”

The game of golf has been fortunate to get the Porters’ attention for the past two decades, and just about the time they figured to be winding down their volunteer efforts in their 70s, a new project reeled them back in.

Two years ago, the SCGA and The Los Angeles Country Club (LACC), in the midst of afundraising effort tied to the 2023 U.S. Open, came to the Porters to share the idea of renovating the par-3 Maggie Hathaway GC near SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where the couple served as volunteer operators. The Porters were happily taken aback by the proposed scope of the work, and in early 2025 they have watched the $18.5 million project, including a full course renovation by renowned architect Gil Hanse, begin to take shape.

“It’s coming along great, just like we thought it would,” said Glen, in late February, who checks in on the construction regularly. Added Mary, “I have never seen the county work better or more closely with other groups.”

For the Porters, the construction has meant a little bit of a breather in their bustling lives, which includes a blended family of five children and seven grandchildren. They raised their kids in Carson and were volunteer leaders in virtually everything, from Little League to Girl Scouts.

FOR MR. & MRS. PORTER AS THEY REFER TO EACH OTHER, IT’S ALL ABOUT COMMUNITY

Glen hustled from his job to baseball and football practices in the afternoons, and when their youngest son decided to take up golf — no shocker here — they dived headlong into that, too.

Glen eventually became a high school golf coach in L.A. Unified and, after he and Mary learned to play golf, they joined the Western States Golf Association (WSGA) in 2004. The WSGA, with 25 member clubs, was formed in 1954 to create more opportunities for Black golfers who were not being allowed to play courses because they were not part of golf clubs and didn’t have handicap indexes.

The Porters became WSGA board members, with Glen getting involved in youth programs at the Westchester and Chester Washington courses. That led to work for WSGA’s regional nonprofit, Southern Area Youth Programs Inc. (SAYPI), which offers golf access, instruction and equipment for underprivileged kids while also providing scholarships for college-bound students. Since 2017, the Porters have run the Maggie Hathaway course as volunteers for SAYPI, which subleases the facility from American Golf.

The Porters do just about everything but mow the grass at the Maggie course. Glen organizes clinics for kids, seniors and women, and Mary does the bookkeeping and scheduling and makes sure the concessions are stocked. Asked about how many hours they work, both laugh.

“The course is never far from our minds,” Glen said.

Through the years, the Porters have seen many kids go through their golf programs and later thrive. There’s not anything much better, they say, than having young grown-ups come back to thank them for their contributions. As for what they believe they’re accomplishing, the Porters haven’t wavered.

“It’s about teaching kids,” Mary said. “Golf is the only sport that you call a penalty on yourself. If we can teach people to call a penalty on themselves, maybe they will do that in life.”

We could all do better to take heed from Mr. and Mrs. Porter.