From January 25 to February 5, Outlook Nebraska “rolled out” the Toilet Paper Bowl, a friendly competition with four local charities facing off to see who could collect the most toilet paper. During this event, charity “fans” were encouraged to support their “charity team” by purchasing rolls of toilet paper from Outlook Nebraska to be donated to their team. Game 1 featured Omaha Home for Boys vs. Youth Emergency Services. Game 2 pitted Open Door Mission against Heartland Family Service.
Youth Emergency Services prevailed over Omaha Home for Boys by receiving 3,690 rolls from the community. “YES was very excited to participate in the inaugural Toilet Paper Bowl because all donations directly fund our “bottom line!” YES serves more than 2,000 youth in our community every year. Proceeds from the Toilet Paper Bowl help meet our youth’s basic needs and make everyone a winner,” Mary Fraser Meints, Executive Director at Youth Emergency Services, said.
Heartland Family Service defeated Open Door Mission in their game with a final roll count of 1,270. “We are so grateful for the collaborative support of Outlook Nebraska and the true generosity of our community to help us win this fun competition. We applaud Open Door Mission and their amazing work, and we are honored for the community to come out and help us make a clean sweep in the first-ever Toilet Paper Bowl,” Donna Dostal, Chief Development Officer at Heartland Family Service, said.
In all, the fans of our charity teams donated 8,542 rolls of toilet paper worth nearly $4,300. Youth Emergency Services and Heartland Family Service each also collected a $1,000 cash prize provided by American National Bank. Dozens of fans went for the “Extra Point” and donated to Outlook Nebraska a total of $563. Thousands of “fans” were introduced to Outlook Nebraska’s mission and services through our charity team promotion activity and likewise each charity benefited through the cross-promotion of the event.
“We would like to thank everyone who participated in our first-ever Outlook Nebraska TP Bowl. A special thank you also goes out to American National Bank for its generous sponsorship of cash prizes for the winners of each game,” said Outlook Nebraska President and CEO Eric Stueckrath. “This event allowed us to come together and provide a product to those in need, as well as to continue to provide employment opportunities to our blind and visually impaired community members.”