Dan de Saussure Memorial Fundraiser

Dan was a son, brother, uncle, friend, peer and mentor and passed on December 11, 2020 due to complications of gastric cancer.  He was 35 years old and worked at the YMCA of San Francisco where he positively impacted others every single day. His smile was infectious, and his heart was full of love.   With your support, Project Periwinkle can continue supporting and advancing stomach cancer research for a cure, and together, we can stand up to cancer and make our world a better, brighter, cancer free place. Here is a letter from his friends.

Dear Dan,

Thank you for being the kind of human and friend that just makes people open their hearts, embrace vulnerability, and try a little harder to better...in a way that you just were. We were lucky to have you in this life, and maybe you inspired so many and changed JUST SO MANY lives that you were needed on your next quest in the Universe. Someone who did so much in so little time is a powerful soul, it’s no wonder we couldn’t keep you forever. 

 It’s hard to capture all the ways that you were an amazing person. You made others feel positive and happy with themselves while walking closely with them on whatever personal journey they were on. Your work was to help countless people improve their wellness and realize the ways they can be their best and happiest selves. You had a singular ability to connect with people, paying attention and learning what they loved and cared about and bringing that out in your relationship with them. It was a curiosity and appreciation for things that made people special that others would never see.

That quality made you a welcome presence in every circle you came into. So many people were happy when you were around and you made everyone feel at home. You put a lot of trust in your friends and a lot of us felt that whatever we were going through, you were  on our team going through it with us.  You were able to take your own growth, and learning, and pain, and use it to help keep others moving forward. We’re so thankful for the time we had with you.  We wish we could have given you back as much as he gave to us.

We’re trying not to miss you so hard, because that’s selfish. But we do! You just had that impact. 

Through it all, you had that empath heart: thank you for letting some of us say goodbye (for now) and how much we love you on behalf of all of us. We will wait patiently-ish to see how you reveal yourself to and live on through us! 

In the meantime, we’ll work on our vocab, and our kindness, and our squat form as well as our edge highlighting, drafting conspiracy and holding objectives until we see you again.

Forever in Our Hearts,

Your People

Thank you for your generous support!

Project Periwinkle® is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all donations are tax-deductible in accordance with IRS law and regulation.