On a silver horse he rides to the rescue of the homeless and hungry.
Jon Bon Jovi is not backing down in his mission to feed the poor even after a mayor in his home state slammed the singer for turning a public library into a “day shelter and soup kitchen.”
Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick bashed county commissioners for allowing Bon Jovi’s JBJ Soul Kitchen to operate temporarily as a pop-up at the Ocean County Library, telling the Shore News Network its attracting homeless people and disturbing residents.
“These people are being dropped by in our community by agencies pretending to be homeless advocates who get paid by the head to import homeless people into our town from all over the state and the East Coast,” Rodrick complained. “These agencies are making millions of dollars importing homeless. Their plan is not about compassion; it’s about people wanting to profit off the homeless issue.”
The pop-up café, which opened on Feb. 11, shares the mission of JBJ Soul Kitchen’s three other New Jersey locations — allowing diners to pay it forward and cover the suggested $12 cost for those who cannot afford their meal. Patrons who can’t pay are able to volunteer at the eatery — which is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays — in exchange for sandwiches, wraps, bowls and salads.
Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, who run the nonprofit restaurant chain, told The Post they will continue to advocate for those less fortunate — and their restaurant will remain there through May.
“The JBJ Soul Foundation and JBJ Soul Kitchen are committed to ending homelessness through real solutions. We are not here to just move people around or force them into the shadows. Our Foundation has built nearly a thousand units of affordable and supportive housing,” they said in a joint statement on Friday.
“Through our JBJ Soul Kitchen, we connect people to resources and services. Whether they need employment, mental health support, or housing, we try to remove the barriers that are keeping them from thriving, not just surviving.”
The power couple — who opened the first JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, NJ in 2011 — also clapped back at Rodrick’s funding claims.
“We are unsure where the mayor thinks millions of dollars are trading hands, but we are completely unaware of any such programs and receive no such funding,” they insisted.
“We invite anyone to the BEAT Center in Toms River or to the JBJ Soul Kitchen Pop Up to see what we are doing to end homelessness and hunger in our community.”
Rodrick claimed he has gotten numerous complaints about the increasing number of homeless men near the township’s municipal parking garage and on the benches across from the library.
“They’ve completely ignored all of our complaints and concerns,” Rodrick said of the county officials.
“Mothers shouldn’t have to walk through large gangs of intoxicated and mentally ill men with their children to borrow a book.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
