FOR THE CHILDREN

Johnny Jennings donates the proceeds of his recycling efforts to his favorite charity.

Johnny Jennings still remembers a chance meeting with three young boys from Hapeville’s Georgia Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries (GBCHFM) in 1949. Built in 1872 after the Civil War, the home has housed and provided for thousands of Georgia’s destitute and orphaned children.

They threw their little arms around my knees and waist, and asked me, ‘Will you be our daddy?’” 93-year-old Jennings says. “After that day, I knew I had to help the children there. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know when, but I made a promise to myself and to them that I’d find a way to help.

Jennings grew up on Oak Road in Catoosa County. He grew up working on the family farm baling hay and learning the many gifts of hard work and accomplishment. As a young man, he served in the U.S. Marines and fought in the Korean War. He married his high school sweetheart, Gwendolyn, over six decades ago and supported his family through a long career as a welder.

When their son, Brent, was four or five, Jennings taught him about recycling.

“ I wanted him to know that it’s not only good for the environment, but you can make money recycling,” Jennings says. “We started recycling together. It was our bonding time. When Brent got married in 1986, he had saved enough money from recycling to make a down payment on a house.”

Jennings takes off his hat during a ceremony presenting him with an official state resolution commending the work he’s done raising money for GBCHFM. Photo by Shay Love. As of last year, Johnny Jennings had donated over $416,000 to Georgia Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries — all from the proceeds of his recycling efforts.

Years later, an idea came to him while leading Sunday School at Burning Bush Baptist Church in Ringgold.

“We were talking about service projects and raising money for the Home,” he remembers. “The little boys in my class asked, ‘What can we do to raise money?’ And I suggested we collect paper, cardboard and aluminum cans to recycle. We earned $57 in that first year — that was 1985 — and donated every cent to the Home.”

For over three decades, Jennings collected pennies and recyclables from his neighbors, local businesses and churches; hauled the products to a recycling center in Chattanooga; exchanged his loads of recyclable materials for cash; then returned to his home in the countryside of Catoosa County. As of last year, he had donated over $416,000 to his favorite charity by collecting $29,799.65 in pennies and converting 500,000 aluminum cans and 10,613,820 pounds of cardboard and paper to money. He has kept the receipts to keep track of his progress.

A smart business man, he holds the aluminum through the summer months and cashes in his crushed cans in winter, when conversion rates are at their max. He records every transaction and notes that his recycling efforts allowed him to donate a whopping $35,000 to the Home in 2019.

“I had two mini strokes a couple of years ago, but when I got out of the hospital, I started my recycling route again,” says Jennings, who retired several years ago.

He was honored last year with an official state resolution commending his tireless efforts in raising significant funds for the Children’s Home.

“My favorite quote is, ‘The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away,’” Jennings says. “I believe that’s true.”

Though the pandemic and his age have slowed his efforts, Jennings doesn’t plan to stop his fundraising — or friendraising.

“I won’t stop until the undertaker turns my toes up,” he laughs. “This is my mission, and I will continue to serve as long as I can. What I’m doing helps the children, and that’s important to me.”