× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Forty-thousand rolls of toilet paper sold in less than 24 hours.

These days, that doesn’t seem so phenomenal, unless you consider that it all was made in a small Omaha shop that’s run by a nonprofit group, with the proceeds going to a good cause.

Outlook Nebraska’s blind and vision-impaired workers have quietly made toilet paper in its building at 72nd and F Streets for 20 years. It’s the largest employer of the blind and vision-impaired in a seven-state region, though many Omahans probably know little about its operations.

The agency’s first-ever direct sale to Omaha consumers may have changed that. The agency usually concentrates on its contracts with businesses and federal entities such as prisons, but decided to briefly branch out last week.

“We saw a need in the community,” said Rachel Carver, Outlook Nebraska’s senior public relations specialist.

The response to the sale proved that to be an understatement.

One thousand cases of toilet paper — each containing 40 rolls — went on sale online early last week and sold out way before the pickup dates. Each case cost $30 (75 cents a roll), and each consumer was limited to five cases (200 rolls of toilet paper for $150).