Photography by M. Sharkey

After Tepper realized that New York City had no memorial to honor the city's thousands who have been affected by AIDS, he contacted his friend Kelterborn and the two founded AIDS Memorial Park Coalition. Although both have full-time day jobs, that hasn't kept them from rolling up their sleeves and getting into some old-fashioned community organizing, effectively securing space near the former St. Vincent's Hospital in the West Village and garnering support from high-profile figures like Susan Sarandon amd Kenneth Cole.

Photographed at Sun Studios in New York City on September 13, 2012