Jon Bon Jovi is a rockstar, an musical icon, actor and one heck of a nice guy!
Jon Bon Jovi has used his wealth, fame and kind heart to open up two restaurants that serve up FREE meals! That’s right, all of the meals served inside of his restaurants are free of charge. A small donation is encouraged, but not necessary. The Living on a Prayer singer has already served up over 105k meals!
Soul Kitchen is the name of the nonprofit organization managed by the JBJ Foundation, an institution led by the artist, and which holds his initials. At Soul Kitchen, plates don’t have prices, and paying the bill is only optional. Those who can do so are asked to make a $20 donation, and those who aren’t able to, even people who are homeless, are also welcomed into the restaurant to eat and volunteer later in the kitchen.
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Chili is ready! Good luck to all the participants. #chillicookoff #hopeisdelicious
According to the restaurant’s website, 51% of the meals they’ve served to this day were paid for by donations. The remaining 49% were covered by the voluntary work of people without financial resources. That’s why one of the restaurant’s mottos is: “All are welcome at our table.”
The first of these establishments opened its doors in October 2011 in New Jersey and one was also opened in Toms River in 2016, an area deeply impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
“Our mission has always been to affect positive change and address the issues of hunger and homelessness,” explained the author of hits like You Give Love a Bad Name and Livin ’on a Prayer when opening his second restaurant. “There are no prices on our menu. So if you are in need, you participate. And that means bussing the table, washing a dish, working in our gardens,” he added.
There are no reservations and tables are shared with strangers.
Seating people all together is a wonderful way for people to mingle and get to know one another, despite their financial status or living means.
The menu consists of 3 different American inspired courses. The menu is also changed every 10 days.
You can have a look at the menu on the restaurant’s website.
In addition to these 2 restaurants, the JBJ Foundation has built homes in the city of Philadelphia for the homeless, including young people and war veterans. It also funded the construction of a center that helps teenage moms and their babies and financed a shelter to provide beds and medical care to the homeless.
The foundation created by the rock star and his wife, Dorothea Hurley, has a clear mission: “To break the cycle of hunger, poverty and homelessness through developing partnerships, creating programs and providing grant funding to support innovative community benefit organizations.”
The non-profit has also launched a program that teaches people how to write effective resumes to employers, how to develop skills to do better at job interviews, and it even provides them with free financial, legal, and labor advice.
