14-year-old makes masks and toilet paper free at all Mega Saver stores

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Items like toilet paper, masks and gloves are still hard to come by, but thanks to the generosity of a 14-year-old girl, thousands of masks, gloves and toilet paper are available to the community by just stopping by a Mega Saver gas station.

14-year-old Renee Samieva shared her concern with her dad of people not being able to get their hands on critical supplies to help protect them from the virus.

"People are like wait, 'They're actually free?" Samieva said. "They are a little confused at first, and then they are thankful."

"I was pretty shocked," David Bauman, a Mega Saver customer said. "I saw them, but I didn't know what it is for. You can't find these things anywhere, so I appreciate it."

The masks, gloves and toilet paper are now being given out for free, to customers at all Mega Saver locations.

"It was a brilliant idea. Coming up with an idea like that to help the community coming from the younger generation is something that makes you happy," said Mega Saver COO, Lola Khalikova. "As soon as she came up with the idea, we put the resources behind it to order as many masks as we could get a hold of."

The company has been able to order more than a 100,000 of the items.

"We are also doing donations to first responders; if they need a donation, they should reach out to us," said Khalikova. "We are also giving them to medical facilities, and shelters will be getting donations as well."

You can also find on their shelves hand sanitizer and N95 masks.

"It feels good inside to give people something they may not be able to get anywhere else," Samieva said.

There are 23 Mega Savers in Omaha and one in Council Bluffs with most of the locations being drive ups if you don't want to get out of your car.

Mega Saver gets several shipments a week and will do this as long as they can get supplies.