So he founded a nonprofit organization, Matthew 25 Ministries, to turn that idea into reality.

Now in its 14th year, the organization on Sunday dedicated its new home, a warehouse at 11060 Kenwood Road, and kicked off a $2.5 million capital campaign fund-raiser.

The charity collects donated items from corporations, hospitals and individuals, processes them and packages them for distribution. Items are shipped to people in the United States and around the world.

"It's a small world, and this (organization) opens your eyes to what's out there," said Mary Gehring of Silverton, who works for a consignment shop that donates clothing to the charity.

Matthew 25 Ministries began when Mettey, a pastor formerly at Walnut Hills Baptist Church, witnessed poverty and devastation in Managua, Nicaragua, during a 1990 visit. Mettey began bringing suitcases filled with medical supplies, hygiene products and clothing to the country.

Since then, the organization has shipped almost 30 million pounds of supplies to poverty-stricken places all over the world. This year alone they have shipped 4,068,640 pounds of goods to people in need.

"The message of Matthew 25 Ministries is that we're all the same people," Mettey said. "We're all in this together. We're all in this planet Earth."

Many of the donations are cast-offs from major corporations and manufacturers, including misprints, overruns, returns or slightly damaged goods.

About half of corporate donations would otherwise have been taken to a landfill or incinerated.

"Quite honestly, I didn't think there was anything we could do to help the cause," said Scott Farmer, president and CEO of Cintas Corp., now a major supporter of the charity. "It shows what can happen when people take time to learn what they can do for an organization like this."

With donations flowing in, the group has been outgrowing one warehouse after another. It opened the new Kenwood Road facility, the Center for Humanitarian Relief, in August.

"We probably should have started working on finding a new home the day we finished building the Loveland facility," said Michael Brandy, chairman of the board of the directors. "We grew out of it almost immediately."

The organization bought the 131,000-square-foot Keco Industries Inc. warehouse, which once made military group supply equipment, for $1.6 million. The place was in disarray, with environmental problems, inadequate heating and air-conditioning systems, overgrown landscaping and substandard office space.

When staff member Brian Bertke saw the place for the first time, "All I could think of were those big billboards that say, 'We buy ugly houses,' " he said.

Staff and volunteers have made $900,000 in repairs since they closed the deal, including new windows and carpeting for the offices, a new lighting system in the production area and 120,000 square feet of replaced or repaired roofing.

"You've heard of This Old House?" said David Knust, director of Matthew 25 Ministries. "This is this old building."

Plans for the new center include a manufacturing plant - the organization already makes its own notebooks, but hopes to expand to soap, diapers and more. Members also plan to open a global village - to teach children about world cultures - a conference center and a not-for-profit resource center.

The move to a once-neglected building is symbolic, several members of the organization said.

"Because we are in the business of restoring human beings," Mettey said.

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Web: www.m25m.org

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E-mail mdowns@enquirer.com