An 86-year-old US man who spent 32 years selling recyclable cans and paper and offering the proceeds to charity has managed to raise a whopping US$400,000 (A$526,940) over that period.

Georgia resident Johnny Jennings’s story was first documented in a Facebook post by friend Shay Drennan-Love in February, which detailed his donations to the Georgia Baptist Home for Children had topped $400k.

The post has since garnered tens of thousands of reactions and shares.

“Mr Jennings has worn out three trucks and countless sets of tyres (collecting recycling to sell since 1985)… Monday to Friday you will see Mr Jennings driving around town picking up paper from local businesses and churches,” she wrote.

Ms Drennan-Love added that Mr Jennings manages to load his collection truck by himself, despite his age and having suffered two mini strokes two weeks before the post.

“When he got home from the hospital, he didn't let that stop him from getting back to his paper route,” she added.

Ms Drennan-Love praised her friend as “the last of a dying breed” from whom much can be learned, while pleading for mainstream media coverage.

(Facebook/Shay Drennan-Love)

Her plea has since been answered with a story by TODAY US , detailing Mr Jennings’s lifelong commitment to serving others.

It describes Mr Jennings’s visit at the age of 18 to the same children’s home he would later support, during which he was approached by multiple children asking to be adopted.

Mr Jennings said that as he wasn’t able to adopt himself, he decided to start collecting paper and aluminium waste products to raise money for the children’s home instead.

Georgia Baptist Children’s Home President Dr Kenneth Thompson described Mr Jennings as “one of the most gracious individuals I have ever met”.

“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,” he told TODAY.