A Dunkin’ Donuts napkin fluttered from a garbage can beside an Auntie Anne’s at Destiny USA. Laurence Segal pulled his arm out of the can and peered in. He rummaged through a half-full bag of trash.

“Lovely,” he said as he removed a few wrappers, studied the bottom of the can and came up with a handful of objects. Out came a hamburger wrapper. Out came sheets of paper. Then he spotted an empty Poland Spring water bottle.

Segal tossed the bottle in a pink container, one of two 96-gallon garbage bins he hauls around the mall. Curious shoppers stop to watch. They hesitate, unsure of what he’s doing.

“I’ve gotten used to people giving me funny looks,” said Segal, 40, a DeWitt resident.

This is how Segal has chosen to live: gathering bottles to help researchers find a cure for breast cancer. Earlier this year, he developed herniated disks in his back. That didn’t stop him from surveying the garbage cans of Destiny USA and, sometimes, the dumpsters outside the Carrier Dome.

There he is, every morning before 8 a.m., searching for bottles he’ll trade in for a 6-cent refund. There he is, during the day, climbing into dumpsters. There he is, well after the Syracuse University games are over, cleaning up bottles after the tailgates on campus. He donates all the refunds to breast cancer research.

So far, Segal said he has collected more than 2 million bottles and donated more than $50,000 to the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund. Last year, he donated another $14,500 to the American Cancer Society and $5,000 to his Real Men Wear Pink campaign. Segal’s mother had breast cancer when he was 10. She survived, but many others have not.

Laurence Segal collects plastic bottles and metal cans at Destiny USA in an effort to raise funds to stop breast cancer.
Matthew Gutierrez | Senior Staff Writer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. About one in eight women and one in 1,000 men in the United States will develop breast cancer. About 40,610 women in the U.S. are expected to die this year from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1989, according to breastcancer.org.

That’s why Segal, a Syracuse native, quit his full-time job to volunteer seven days per week, about 18 hours per day, collecting bottles from the trash. He won’t stop until there’s a cure.

“I don’t sleep because people are battling cancer,” Segal said. “I’ve missed weddings and bar mitzvahs. I’ve given up friendships and relationships because I believe in my heart that this is a worthwhile cause. I don’t want to see these go in the garbage. I want to see as much money as possible going to cancer research.

“I’ve given up pretty much all social aspects of my life to do this. But if I die today, I’ll be very proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

Two years ago, Segal bought a Ford F-150 so he could transport more bottles. Below his license plates reads: “Together we will find a cure.” He packs his truck with garbage bags full of recyclable bottles and drives to Bottle’s End, a can returner center in Solvay.

James Ayers, the center’s owner, jokes with Segal when he comes after 11 p.m. or midnight. He teases him by leaving the door unlocked, then popping out of the dark to “scare the crap out of him.”

It’s all playful, because Ayers appreciates Segal’s work. He said it’s inspired nearby residents to donate the money they make from returned bottles to Segal’s cause. Segal said he’s seeking revenge on cancer, which he called a dark disease that leaves little hope to those affected by it.

Segal was first exposed to the disease in earnest when his mother was diagnosed in 1987. About a decade later, after graduating from Ithaca College with a degree in TV production, Segal landed an internship with “The Price is Right” in Los Angeles.

He worked for Rod Roddy, the show’s announcer. Roddy battled colon and breast cancer before dying in 2003. Living through the plights of both his mother and boss drove Segal to find something worth doing for the rest of his life.

“It upsets me when anybody dies of cancer,” Segal said. “I think about it and that keeps me motivated. Every 6 cents matters. Every penny matters. Throwing bottles and cans in the garbage is stupid when these organizations are begging for donations.”

Segal looks in garbage bins at Destiny USA and the dumpsters outside the Carrier Dome to collect bottles.
Matthew Gutierrez | Senior Staff Writer

Segal has, in some form, been raising funds for breast cancer research since the late 1980s. As a kid, he sealed envelopes for the Susan G. Komen Foundation in downtown Syracuse. The idea for bottle collecting hit him when he noticed thousands of used bottles after Syracuse Chiefs games, either overflowing trash bins or scattered under stadium seats. He’s flocked to Destiny for about four years now.

Word of Segal’s work is spreading. He received a letter from former President Barack Obama applauding his efforts. A Destiny USA Facebook video last year got nearly 8,000 views. On Saturday, he held a bottle drive at the mall.

Beth Baldwin, executive director at the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of central New York, has driven by the Wegmans on West Genesee Street after 1 a.m. Several times, she’s seen Segal cross the four-lane road, dragging a pair of 96-gallon pink cans across the way.

“He gets up every day, sometimes upset, but he does it with great conviction,” said Baldwin, whose brother is the actor Alec Baldwin. “He’s not going to give up, and he’s not going to stop.”

Last week, Segal wore a pink shirt that read, “With my passion, no one walks alone.” He wore a hat reading “Hope” as he wheeled his bins down an unmarked hallway on the second floor of Destiny.

Published on October 29, 2017 at 9:27 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21