Jon Bon Jovi. Who wouldn’t know his name?
A famous Rockstar and frontman of the band Bon Jovi, his voice was the voice of rock in the early 80s until the early part of the new millennium. Their hits “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Livin’ on a Prayer,” and “Bed of Roses,” among many others, have all been an anthem of someone’s life.
But more than being a rock icon, Jon Bon Jovi is a Rockstar for helping others.
He found an auto-body repair shop near a train track in Red Bank and turned it into a community kitchen in 2011. His restaurant boasts of its farm-to-table dining experience. However, the best thing about his restaurant is not the food – but how it helps the community.
Thanks to his wife, Dorothea, that they came up with the idea of a community kitchen.
JBJ Soul is not your typical restaurant.
People can dine here and have two unique payment options:
Either you pay $20 for your meal which ends up as a donation for someone else’s meal…
…or you volunteer to help with labor.
One eye-opener for the community is that hunger and homelessness don’t always look the same.
“Hunger doesn’t look like what your mind’s eye might imagine,” Dorothea said in an interview with CBS. “I think that’s eye-opening for a lot of the community here. I can name five people who are homeless in this restaurant right now, but they don’t look like what you think they would look like.”
And even in the middle of the pandemic, JBJ Soul still offered the same service.
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They offered to-go food for pick-up while also preparing packed meals and other food items they gave to those in need. This meant a lot to these people, especially in the middle of a lockdown with many people losing their jobs and their homes.
Definitely staying true to their motto: “Hope is delicious.”
Their first restaurant is in Red Bank in New Jersey.
They have another branch in Tom’s River.
And now, they’re planning to open a third one at Rutgers University in Newark.
You might wonder why they chose to have a community restaurant inside a university, but to Jon and Dorothea, it seems like the best location.
Jon Bon Jovi shared his insights in the same interview:
“When you send your kids off to school, you don’t think about after tuition: books, living – what’s left for food?”
And Jon is right in that thinking.
Some students live on scholarships, loans, or their parents work two or more jobs to get them to university. But because allowances become scarce, eating a proper meal is sometimes not an option, even eating anything at all.
This effort, the couple agrees, has given some hope in these trying times.
“It does restore your faith in humanity. Because people will, I believe, given the opportunity, help another human being. And that’s what we see here all the time,” Dorothea said.
Jon Bon Jovi and Dorothea Hurley have all our praises for their efforts.
If you want to help JBJ Soul Community Kitchen, you can donate to feed more people or volunteer for labor. It’s one big step in helping a community in need.
Learn more about his amazing efforts in the video below.
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