This 86-year-old man has raised $400,000 for a children's home

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published 6 March 2017

For the past three decades, Johnny Jennings, 86, has raised money however possible to help the kids at Georgia Baptist Children's Home.

At 18, he visited the home for the first time, and had several children run up to him, begging to be adopted. While Jennings was not ready to adopt a child, he knew he wanted to do something to assist the organization. He eventually started recycling aluminum and paper and saving his pennies, donating every cent to the facility. "84,480 is a mile of pennies," Jennings told Today. "We finished 24 miles. We had most people from church collecting pennies."

Over the past 30 years, Jennings has donated more than $400,000, and looks forward to the annual meeting where he presents his check for the year. "Johnny Jennings is one of the most gracious individuals I have ever met," Georgia Baptist Children's Home President Dr. Kenneth Thompson told Today. "I have always admired his quiet, humble spirit, his commitment to helping others, and most of all, his love for the children in our care."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.