LEXINGTON, MA — Rachel Segaloff's first exposure to the national diaper shortage happened innocently enough but quickly sparked a passion inside of the mother of two to become part of the solution.
Now, eight years after the Lexington resident became aware of the fact diapers are not covered by any form of government assistance program when she donated unused baby formula to a diaper distribution ministry of a local church and two years after she launched the Beantown Baby Diaper Bank, Segaloff finds herself on a national —and unexpected — platform.
Segaloff is one of 30 ordinary people nationwide being recognized for doing extraordinary things in their respective communities. The group is part of a national campaign by Lay's that hopes to donate $1 million to Operation Smile, an international medical charity provides access to safe surgical procedures with children born with cleft conditions.
Segaloff was chosen to have her smile and story displayed on bags of Lay's potato chips across the country thanks to her efforts raising awareness for the need for diapers at the local level. Since 2012, her one-person not-for-profit, which was formally formed as the Beantown Baby Diaper Bank two years ago, has donated more than 160,000 diapers to local families and has donated 45,000 diapers so far in 2020 by partnering with local charitable organizations like food banks and domestic violence shelters that assist Segaloff with distribution.
A Lexington Stop & Shop has also allowed Segaloff to put a drop box at its store, which is all part of an effort that have become a labor of love for Segaloff. Her continued efforts come at a time when issues such as food insecurity and other socioeconomic shortages have come to light because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the pandemic has also provided a necessary spotlight on the need for diapers for families across the county that has never been more evident.
Because diapers are not covered under any government assistance program, there are countless families, Segaloff said, that have financial difficulty being able to provide adequate supply of clean diapers for their children because they don't have the resources to do so.
Segaloff began running local diaper drives in Waltham in 2012 before continuing the effort in Lexington when she moved to the community in 2015. Three years later, she launched the Beantown Baby Diaper Bank, which continues to serve a segment of the population many don't even realize exists.
"I felt like I could do more," Segaloff told Patch on Tuesday, explaining her decision to launch her own local organization in 2018. "(Diaper need) is something people don't know about, don't think about and it was mind-boggling."
Realizing she could reach more families if she had more resources with which to work, Segaloff – a fundraiser by profession – created a not-for-profit organization which would carry out the same mission. Now, at a time when diaper drives cannot be held because of the pandemic, diaper banks – both locally and nationally – are meeting the needs of families that have struggled with keeping their children in diapers in a period of continued uncertainty.
This year, Segaloff began working full-time for the National Diaper Bank Network, which connects and supports the 200 member diaper banks that are run across the country. The timing of her joining the organization lined up with a pandemic period that she says has unveiled diaper need as a critical issue. In addition to families not having the resources to buy diapers, the pandemic also created diaper shortages across the country as people began hoarding diapers, which put even a larger spotlight on the need.
Her platform with the Lay's campaign was unexpected after she threw her name into the mix, never expecting her entry to go anywhere because of the vast number of people running their own grassroots organizations across the country. In late February, she was notified she was a semifinalist.
Originally scheduled to go to Dallas for a photo shoot, Segaloff instead had to capture images of her smile herself at home because of the travel limitations initiated because of the pandemic. Before being sent video equipment by Lay's, Segaloff took what seemed like 1,000 selfies of her smile (40-50 in reality to provide an array of smiles, which was one of 30 chosen as part of the campaign and which were placed onto the bags of chips using CGI technology.
Shortly after being selected from thousands of applicants, Segaloff opened a plain brown cardboard box that contained potato chip bags bearing her smile and image. Earlier this month, bags of Lay's salt and vinegar potato chips and cheddar and sour cream chips with Segaloff's smile hit store shelves across the country. Each bag includes a QR code that can be scanned for more information about what each person chosen for the campaign is doing in their community.
Segaloff admits to being stunned the first time she saw herself on a bag of chips which displayed her smile and image but is grateful for the platform the campaign provides.
"The goal all along has been to create awareness about diaper need," Segaloff said. "It's something I have been committed to since I learned about it and this was just a fun, cool way to get the word out.
"But it was really cool to be part of this group of really unique people who are doing such incredible, incredible things in their community. …they see a need and they're just doing it. That's exactly what happened with me. I saw a need and I just started doing it."
September 30, 2020 at 03:33AM
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Lexington-Based Baby Diaper Bank Is All That And A Bag Of Chips - Lexington, MA Patch
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