ATLANTA: Genna Keller had an idea that was simply too good to flush away.
With all her employees at home, the principal of Trevelino/Keller was giving her Atlanta office a once over when she came across a supply closet packed with toilet paper. She immediately thought of news stories about hoarders.
“I had been monitoring the news,” she said. “The more I read, the more I felt not that great seeing repeated stories about toilet paper and how people are not behaving well to each other in grocery stores and in Costco.”
While she gazed at the rows of TP, she had an idea: “What can we do?,” she thought. “Then I came up with the idea of a toilet paper exchange.”
The impetus, Keller said, was simply to have a little fun, lighten things up and help agency morale. But as she thought about it more, Keller realized that empty schools, churches and the offices of other companies would also have closets filled with toilet paper and other supplies.
So she registered the domain toiletpaperexchange.com and invited others to participate. The agency held its first TP-distribution event on March 16, inviting people to drive through its parking lot while employees — maintaining their distance — tossed rolls into open car windows.
“I do believe there is a need,” Keller said. “Some stores have it and some don’t, depending on where you are. I’ve had several inquiries from Atlanta retirement homes saying our stock is really low, and in the next week [the agency will] be doing a couple of drops.”
After the first event, client GigaMonster joined the effort, donating hand sanitizer from the stockpile it keeps for marketing events and visiting technicians. GigaMonster also sponsored a second distribution event in the parking lot of a central Atlanta apartment complex.
“This started from a point of levity,” Keller said. “Then I began to think about how we could make it really work and give back.”
Trevelino/Keller is inviting anyone who wants to donate supplies or has a potential “TP toss collection point” to visit http://toiletpaperexchange.com/TKTossPartner.
“This is the time in which creativity is really needed, and if someone wants to help and make a difference, there’s a way,” Keller added. “We didn’t do this thinking from the marketing end. That’s just a bonus.”