When Brent Jennings was young, he and his father Johnny used to collect cans to be recycled and sold them. It was their way of bonding, but it came with an added benefit: when Brent was ready to buy his first home, he had enough money saved to pay the down payment — all because of the change he made by selling the cans.
But even after he left his parents' home in 1985, Johnny kept on collecting recyclables and selling them. Every year, he made thousands of dollars by just going from door to door and collecting cans and papers. It's been 30 years since he started, but after such a long time he still hasn't kept a penny.
In fact, he has donated a whopping $400,000 to the Georgia Baptist Children's Homes and Family Ministries after three young boys from the institution asked him to be their dad. From that point on, he decided that he would help those kids in need as much as he could.
Now, thanks to a friend's post hoping to spread the word about the 86-year-old's generosity, Johnny Jennings's story has gone viral!
I know FB posts can travel around the world and I have been trying to contact someone to get Mr. Jennings story on the nightly world news and so far no luck. He has a wonderful story to tell and it will make you cry when you hear him tell it. I would like to ask all my friends to share this as you all have friends all over the world so please ask them to share it. I would like NBC, ABC or CBS to do a story about Mr. Jennings and how many children he has helped over the years. In case you haven’t heard the story about Mr. Jennings, let me tell you about him….
Mr. Johnny Jennings age 86 has been collecting recycling since 1985 and donating all the money that he receives from recycling to the Georgia Baptist Home for Children. Mr. Jennings has worn out 3 trucks and countless sets of tires. In 2016, Mr Jennings donated just enough money to make his grand total donated $400,000.00!!! Yes you read that right!!! Mr. Jennings age 86 has donated $400,000.00 to the Georgia Baptist Home for Children over a time frame of 32 years! That is a lot of paper and aluminum cans for sure…
This is his Recycling Report for 2016….
Paper Sold 401,280 lbs (201 tons)
Aluminum Cans 51,565 (cans)
Pennies collected 32,040Total for 32 years
Total Paper Sold 9,810,063 lbs
Total Pennies $20,275.20 = 24 miles
Trees Saved 79,000
Monday – Friday you will likely see Mr. Jennings driving around town picking up paper from local businesses and churches and taking it to the Chattanooga Recycle Center on Central Avenue. From there he will head home and load the truck up again with recyclables that people have dropped off at his house. Mr. Jennings normally loads his truck by himself and that is a job in it’s self and did I mention he is 86 years old and had 2 mini strokes two weeks ago and when he got home from the hospital he didn’t let that stop him from getting back to his paper route? That is just how he is and he will not stop until the undertaker turns his toes up! That is what he tells everyone!
I hope you see why I think Mr. Johnny Jennings story needs to be told as it is a good one. He is the last of a dying breed. Our generation and the ones to follow could learn a lot from Mr. Jennings.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Pablo Picasso… This is Mr. Jennings favorite quote and he sure does live by it…….
Please share this story and hopefully someone will share it with the right person who can let the world know about Mr. Johnny Jennings…
Please post where you are from when you read this and share it…Mr. Johnny Jennings lives in Ringgold, GA.
Please SHARE if you're simply amazed by Mr. Jennings's life of dedication!
