Announcing an Exciting new outreach ministry summary – Kathryn’s Kloset

(revised July 2010)

Kathryn’s Kloset is an outreach ministry of Diakon Lutheran Services. Kathryn’s Kloset acts as a charitable donation conduit for East Coast corporate “gifts-in-kind” of overstock, surplus and over-run (mostly) new name-brand products. They have a 50,000 square foot warehouse in Baltimore from which those products are distributed in pallet load lots via certified distributor agencies. (Brochures are available at Trinity.)

Trinity has been certified to be the Franklin County area distributor agency. If the products coming to Chambersburg are of interest to you, we ask that you confirm your desire to be a recipient organization by phone or email, ASAP. When the truck load has been fully reserved by certified groups, we’ll close responses. As you confirm your desire, you are also firmly committing your group to the requirements, below. Individuals do not qualify for this program.

If your agency / church chooses to partner with us (and with Diakon Lutheran Services) we require several things.

1.      If your group has particular needs or desires specific kinds of products, let us know. The staff and Kathryn’s Kloset will contact those manufacturers / distributors and seek to procure them, if they are available.

2.      All products are on a “first-come, first-serve basis” at the warehouse. They will reserve some products that are on hand if the pickup date is to happen soon. We will not know exactly what is available until we go to pick up the load. We will do our best to secure what we have said is available, but there is no guarantee.

3.      You will be required to estimate how many individuals are served through the distribution of whatever you pick up. That data will then go back to the original donor organization for their charitable donation record keeping. Contact us so that we can certify your group as a recipient agency BEFORE you show up to receive a shipment.

4.      You are to guarantee that no product will be resold or exchanged for money, goods or other services, nor will recipients be charged for any product they may receive. All products are without guarantee, warrantee or contract. They are freely distributed “as is, where is.”

5.      You will be expected to already be on site when Trinity’s truck pulls into our parking lot. We will not deliver off of our campus or hold items for you. If you are not here, we’ll simply give more to the others who are already here. Have a pickup truck or other conveyance ready, as well as strong / able hands to unload our truck onto your vehicle. Trinity has no storage space for surplus, nor do we foresee local storage or warehouse in the near future of this partnership. We expect that groups will receive at least one full pallet load of some free product. Plan accordingly.

6.      Trinity will cover the overhead expense of the first delivery (truck, gas, etc).

7.      We would respectfully ask the following: since these products are voluntarily donated by manufactures, distributors and retailers – if you are aware of corporate contacts in industry, manufacturing, regional distribution centers - or other enterprises of your acquaintance – please tell us. We’ll have the staff at Kathryn’s Kloset make direct contact to explore charitable donation possibilities from those vendors.

As a charitable partnership enterprise, if we can find local manufacturing and industry which would be willing and able to donate a quantity items, as Trinity makes a trip to Baltimore to pick up a load, we’d be willing to go to a local manufacturer’s warehouse and take a load TO Baltimore, so a wider variety of other regional agencies and groups can benefit.

Examples of items are periodicallyy stocked at Kathryn’s Kloset:

Pallet case lots of home packaged cleaning products: Wisk, All, Clorox; Pallet loads of shrink wrapped bottled water; Pallet loads of store (new) display foot wear, men’s women’s, children’s – various sizes

Pallet loads of government surplus name-brand computers and flat screen monitors; several dozen computers per pallet; several dozen monitors per pallet (no we don’t have specs).

Office furniture – desks, file cabinets and office chairs – all new, overstock or surplus, some with very minor defects. Office furniture probably needs to be previewed before pickup.

Case lots of new toys (but, presently all reserved for the holiday season by other groups); Case lots of educational books, videos and school supplies (pre-school through college), English and Spanish

Pallet loads of diapers and toilet paper; Pallet loads of flash lights (new); case lots of other items to many to detail.

So – what “stuff” do your clients or organization need? Let us know. Please DO NOT contact Kathryn’s Kloset directly for other specific details. That is why they certify other local agencies to do this contact and distribution work for them.  Inquiries should come to Trinity.

Email is preferred: trinityLC@comcast.net – memo line “Kathryn’s Kloset”

Trinity’s phones: 717-263-8156 + fax, or 717-263-0201 Pastor Neal O. Hively