Our History

As part of the quality team for a consumer products company, Wade Brown was responsible for identifying packaging issues that prevented products from reaching store shelves.

But disposing of otherwise-usable merchandise bothered him.

After all, his mother, Kathryn Sophia Beasley Hall, had always acted as neighborhood nurse and caregiver, sharing whatever she had with others in her community to meet their needs. And Brown had an idea about how he might be able to share with others the products otherwise bound for disposal.

Fortunately, the company for which he worked, Unilever—now Sun Products—saw the value of his vision and gave him both products and warehouse space to house them as he developed a network among non-profit groups that could use the items to aid those in need. Soon, other companies were offering goods for the effort.

"Serving the needs of those who serve the needs of others," became Brown's motto.

That network has now been formalized with the creation of Diakon Kathryn's Kloset. Brown joined Diakon the beginning of 2009 following his retirement from Unilever.

In the transition, Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries funding was put in place, a large warehouse in West Baltimore leased, and a warehouse manager hired so that Brown, now executive director of Diakon Kathryn's Kloset, could focus on continuing to build the network of corporate donors and organizations that can receive goods through the program.

Since that time, the program has touched the lives of nearly 2 million people.

Quite a testament to Brown's vision, based on the mission of his mother, Kathryn, a woman who "took care of everyone in the neighborhood," as Brown describes her today.

Born in Bengies, Md., the only daughter in a family of five children, Kathryn acted as neighborhood nurse and caregiver. Whether bandaging wounds, delivering babies, or caring for those neighbors just home from the hospital, she was always there when needed.

She served on all the committees of her church. She began an annual event called Kathryn Hall's Friends and Family Day, bringing together family and friends for church services and musical programs, feeding all who came.

In the City of Baltimore she was known for her work with seniors. At the Violet Hill Senior Building, where she lived for a time, she was known for accompanying residents to the hospital so they had someone with them for support. Whatever Kathryn had, she shared with others. She fed, nurtured, and provided for all who came into her presence.

Her mission is today carried on by Diakon Kathryn's Kloset—a unique program that gathers corporate in-kind-gifts of personal care and related products and then stores them for pick-up by non-profit organizations that, in turn, share them free of charge with people in need in their community.