Matthew 25: Ministries
Matthew 25: Ministries is a U.S.-based humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization that redirects donated and surplus goods to communities in need.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
Matthew 25: Ministries is an international humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization headquartered in Blue Ash, Ohio. Its work is grounded in the Christian passage Matthew 25:34–25:40 and focuses on providing practical assistance to people experiencing poverty, displacement, disaster, and limited access to basic goods. The organization distributes food, water, clothing, shelter materials, medical supplies, personal-care products, cleaning supplies, educational materials, and other humanitarian commodities in the United States and abroad. The organization began after Reverend Wendell Mettey traveled to Nicaragua in 1990 with doctors and nurses. The conditions he encountered led him to develop a system for collecting products that were no longer usable or marketable by U.S. standards but could still benefit communities elsewhere. Matthew 25: Ministries subsequently built relationships with donors, manufacturers, corporations, public agencies, relief groups, and local partners to collect, sort, process, and ship these materials. The model combines charitable redistribution with in-house preparation and manufacturing, allowing the organization to adapt surplus goods into forms suitable for humanitarian use. Its core distribution program, commonly described as caring for a needy world with products that would otherwise be discarded, covers donated clothing, medicines, personal-care items, school supplies, food and beverages, household goods, cleaning products, paint, and micro-enterprise materials. Volunteers play a central role by inspecting, sorting, packing, and preparing goods for shipment. The organization has grown from a small operation carrying supplies in luggage into a large relief and logistics organization with warehouse, processing, educational, and visitor facilities. Matthew 25: Ministries also operates specialized programs. Its Food Processing Center produces a shelf-stable rice-and-soy food blend, while the Grow Right program provides a powdered micronutrient supplement containing multiple vitamins and minerals. Write Your Future supports literacy through school notebooks, education kits, and pencils made from recycled materials. The Fill Center repackages soap and detergent into usable liquid products. The Rainbow Paint Reblending Program collects excess latex paint and redistributes reblended paint to communities and development projects. Building a New Life supports housing and community development initiatives in Nicaragua and Haiti. Disaster Relief Services provide requested and pre-sorted supplies after events such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, tornadoes, typhoons, and disease outbreaks. The organization emphasizes coordinating with partners in affected areas and shipping goods that have been specifically requested, rather than sending unsuitable donations that can burden local responders. Its documented responses have included Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, the 2012 Colorado wildfires, Hurricane Sandy, the 2013 Moore tornado, Typhoon Haiyan, and the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia. Education and public awareness are supported through the Global Village Experience, a three-dimensional educational exhibit illustrating living conditions in impoverished communities and areas affected by disasters. The exhibit has included representations of American Indian reservations, Appalachia, developing-country waste sites, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other emergencies. In 2014, the organization reported welcoming approximately 80,000 visitors to the exhibit and receiving assistance from nearly 50,000 volunteers. Matthew 25: Ministries has also reported shipping more than 7,000 containers and distributing more than 14 million pounds of products annually during the period covered by its published historical material. The organization has maintained affiliations with humanitarian, nonprofit, business, charitable-accountability, and government workplace-giving networks, including USAID-related associations, the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations, the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, and the Combined Federal Campaign. Its operating identity combines faith-based service, surplus-product recovery, volunteer logistics, disaster response, public education, and community development.
History
Matthew 25: Ministries traces its origin to Reverend Wendell Mettey's 1990 visit to Nicaragua with a medical group. The trip exposed him to severe poverty and limited access to food, clothing, medicine, education, and household necessities. In response, he began organizing a process through which surplus and donated goods from the United States could be collected and redirected to people in need. The early operation was informal and small, with supplies transported in luggage by individuals traveling to affected communities. Beginning in 1991, the organization developed partner relationships in the United States and other countries, allowing it to move from personal deliveries to a structured humanitarian distribution system. Donated products were evaluated, sorted, repackaged, and matched with requests from local partners. This approach enabled Matthew 25: Ministries to handle goods that were excess, discontinued, or unsuitable for normal commercial distribution but still useful for relief and development purposes. Over time, the organization expanded its scope beyond direct redistribution. It created food-processing, school-supply, pencil-manufacturing, detergent-filling, paint-reblending, and micro-enterprise initiatives. The Food Processing Center produced a shelf-stable rice-and-soy blend intended to provide inexpensive nutrition. Grow Right added powdered micronutrients for children. Write Your Future connected recycled-material production with literacy programs by manufacturing pencils and assembling education kits. The Rainbow Paint Reblending Program recovered latex paint from municipalities, manufacturers, contractors, retailers, and individuals for use in developing communities. Building a New Life supported housing and community development work in Nicaragua and Haiti. Disaster response became another major part of the organization’s operating model. Rather than sending unrequested mixed donations, Matthew 25: Ministries has emphasized working with local partners to identify needed goods and then shipping pre-sorted, processed materials. Its documented disaster and emergency responses include Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, the 2012 Colorado wildfires, Hurricane Sandy, the 2013 Moore tornado, Typhoon Haiyan, and the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia. The organization also developed the Global Village Experience as a public education and awareness project. The three-dimensional exhibit presents living conditions in poor communities and illustrates the effects of floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other disasters. An expansion in January 2013 added representations of American Indian reservations, Appalachia, and a developing-country garbage dump. By 2014, published organizational information stated that the site had received approximately 80,000 visitors and that nearly 50,000 volunteers had contributed labor. During its growth, Matthew 25: Ministries developed substantial warehouse and processing capacity. Historical material states that the organization was distributing more than 14 million pounds of products around the world each year, had surpassed 7,000 containers shipped by 2014, and had expanded its warehouse campus by 46,000 square feet to approximately 170,000 square feet. The organization’s work has continued to combine faith-based motivation, volunteer participation, corporate and public donations, commodity recovery, international shipping, disaster relief, and community development. Following Wendell Mettey’s retirement, the organization entered into agreements in 2018 relating to licensing his name, image, likeness, and published and unpublished works. It also agreed to reimburse specified medical expenses for Mettey and his spouse. The organization’s chief executive officer was identified in the reference material as Tim Mettey, Wendell Mettey’s son. Current operational details beyond the historical material cited here require verification from the organization’s official sources.
- 2018
Post-retirement agreements with founder
[1]The organization entered agreements involving intellectual-property licensing and medical-expense reimbursement for Wendell Mettey and his spouse.
- 2014
Warehouse, shipment, visitor, and volunteer operations expand
[1]Published material reported more than 7,000 containers shipped, about 80,000 exhibit visitors, nearly 50,000 volunteers, and an additional 46,000 square feet of warehouse space.
- 2013
Global Village Experience expanded
[1]The public education exhibit added representations of several poverty contexts and natural-disaster environments.
- 2012
Aid shipments surpass one billion dollars in cumulative value
[1]The organization reported exceeding one billion dollars in aid shipped since 1991. The figure is retained as a historical organizational claim rather than a current financial measure.
- 1991
Partner network begins expanding
[1]Matthew 25: Ministries began establishing partners in the United States and internationally to collect and distribute donated goods.
- 1990
Founding mission emerges from Nicaragua visit
[1]Reverend Wendell Mettey’s visit to Nicaragua with doctors and nurses led to the creation of a structured humanitarian aid effort.
Products and positioning
A faith-based humanitarian logistics and disaster-relief organization that converts surplus and donated goods into practical assistance for impoverished and disaster-affected communities.
Food aid
Food Processing Center
The Food Processing Center produces a shelf-stable rice-and-soy food blend designed for humanitarian distribution. It is intended to provide a basic source of nutrition in communities facing poverty, food insecurity, or disaster-related disruption.
Nutrition aid
Grow Right Micronutrient Supplement
Grow Right is a powdered drink supplement formulated with multiple micronutrients for children. The program is designed to support nutritional health where diets may lack essential vitamins and minerals.
Education aid
Write Your Future
Write Your Future supports literacy and schooling by producing notebooks, manufacturing full-sized pencils from recycled materials, and assembling education kits for disadvantaged children.
Personal-care and cleaning aid
Fill Center
The Fill Center repackages donated detergent and soap into ready-to-use liquid products suitable for humanitarian distribution.
Reclaimed materials
Rainbow Paint Reblending Program
This program collects excess latex paint from public agencies, manufacturers, environmental companies, contractors, retailers, and individuals, then reblends it for redistribution to development and community projects.
Housing and community development
Building a New Life
Building a New Life supports house construction and community development initiatives in Nicaragua and Haiti.
Public education
Global Village Experience
The Global Village Experience is a three-dimensional educational exhibit that depicts living conditions in impoverished communities and the effects of major natural disasters.
Brand decisions
2018
Formalize post-retirement arrangements with founderOtherBackground
Following Wendell Mettey’s retirement, Matthew 25: Ministries continued to use works and identity-related materials associated with its founder.
Action taken
The organization entered a licensing agreement concerning his name, image, likeness, and works, and a separate arrangement concerning reimbursement of certain medical expenses for him and his spouse.
Aftermath
The agreements became part of the organization’s documented governance and compensation history.
Annual license payment to Wendell Mettey. $162,000 per year (2018)
2013
Broaden the Global Village educational exhibitStrategyBackground
The organization sought to make its public education installation more representative of poverty and disaster conditions in different regions.
Action taken
It added displays focused on American Indian reservations, Appalachia, a developing-country garbage dump, and several types of natural disasters.
Aftermath
The expanded exhibit became a major visitor and awareness component of the organization’s work.
Recent events
- 2018
Matthew 25: Ministries enters licensing and medical-expense agreements with founder[1]
Other
After Wendell Mettey's retirement, the organization entered agreements concerning the use of his name, image, likeness, and written works, as well as reimbursement of certain medical expenses for him and his spouse.
- 2014
Matthew 25: Ministries reports expanded logistics and visitor activity[1]
Other
The organization reported surpassing 7,000 containers shipped, welcoming about 80,000 Global Village visitors, and adding 46,000 square feet to its warehouse facilities.
- 2013
Matthew 25: Ministries expands its Global Village Experience[1]
Other
The educational exhibit was expanded to portray additional poverty settings, including American Indian reservations, Appalachia, and a developing-country garbage dump, along with displays depicting major natural disasters.
Sources2 sources
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