Dear Friends, Family, & Friendly Acquaintances,

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I tell the following story because I want all people (including myself, and especially young people) to deepen our capacity for empathy. My hope is that we always recognize how easily fear and prejudice can lead people to turn away from the suffering of others, and how important it is to choose kindness instead.

As many of you know, my late partner, Sergio Anguiano, died from AIDS in 1993, just weeks before his 22nd birthday.

We were students at UC Berkeley, and despite nearly three years of illness and frequent hospitalizations, Sergio graduated with top honors just two weeks before he died in our apartment. His professors, friends, and family gathered in his hospital room for a small graduation ceremony just before he returned back home for the last time.

Each year, I participate in AIDS Walk San Francisco, and my fundraising efforts are dedicated to Sergio. To this day, he remains the most determined and courageous person I have ever known.

It was heart-wrenching watching Sergio fight for his life knowing that people believed he deserved to die because he was gay and had AIDS. I'll always wonder how many lives, including his, might have been saved had fear, prejudice, judgement, and indifference not delayed a meaningful response to the crisis.

Losing Sergio helped me later discover my life's purpose. That same hate, stigma, and discrimination that caused such unimaginable suffering at that time still exist, and I am passionate now about fighting against all of it.

That passion inspires my work with the National AIDS Memorial, where we preserve the history of AIDS, honor those we lost, share their stories, and inspire new generations to build a more just and compassionate future.

Sergio is memorialized in both the AIDS Memorial Quilt and the National AIDS Memorial Grove, and his memory reminds me every day why my work matters.

If you are able, please consider supporting my AIDS Walk San Francisco campaign and helping me reach my goal of $5,000. These funds will support our work to ensure that the stories of those we lost are honored and never forgotten, so that no community will again be harmed by fear, silence, discrimination, or stigma.

With deepest gratitude,

Steve Sagaser
Senior Manager, Programs
National AIDS Memorial

PS: I love you always Daniel Villa & Maria Navarro