Latest news with #JBJSoulKitchen
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New Jersey mayor's feud with Jon Bon Jovi giving rocker's charitable efforts for unhoused a bad name
A New Jersey mayor lashed out Friday at Jon Bon Jovi's charitable, "pay it forward" restaurant, claiming the eatery is attracting a problematic number of unhoused people to the town of Toms River. Mayor Dan Rodrick claims that Bon Jovi's popup restaurant, JBJ Soul Kitchen which operates out of an Ocean County library, is nothing more than a "soup kitchen" that's within walking distance of a school. "We appreciate that Bon Jovi wants to feed people that are needy," Rodrick told NBC News. "But the public library down a block from a school is not the appropriate place to bus homeless in from all over the state of New Jersey and other states." Through the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, the "Livin' on a Prayer" singer and wife Dorothea run JBJ Soul Kitchen, a nonprofit community restaurant where patrons pay a "suggested donation." "There are no prices on our menu," according to the restaurant's website. "Instead, we offer a suggested donation to our paying customers and we ask that you Pay it Forward to cover the cost of those who are unable to pay for their meals." It has permanent locations in Red Bank, Toms River, Newark and Jersey City and this recently opened pop-up Toms River location. That temporary spot opened doors in February on Washington Street. "It is not a restaurant," Rodrick said. "It is a soup kitchen that they put there for the homeless that they're bussing in." A rep for the famed Garden State rocker could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday. An attorney representing the Ocean County Library Commission said the JBJ pop-up has a lease that goes to May 23. But the lawyer didn't immediately address the mayor's assertion that unhoused people coming to that location are taxing town resources. "They're (patrons at the pop-up) not from Toms River and Toms River should not have to bear the brunt of homelessness for the entire county of Ocean, especially when not a single one of these folks are from Toms River," Rodrick said. While the town has no immediate options to have the eatery shuttered, Rodrick said his legal team is weighing lawsuits that could eventually lead to its closure. The Ocean County community of about 99,000 residents has a median household income of a little less than $95,000 and is probably best known for its youth baseball. The Toms River East American team, featuring future MLB player Todd Frazier, won the 1998 Little League World Series. Free agent pioneer Andy Messersmith and longtime big league pitcher and MLB analyst Al Leiter were both born in Toms River. This article was originally published on
NBC News
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
New Jersey mayor's feud with Jon Bon Jovi giving rocker's charitable efforts for unhoused a bad name
A New Jersey mayor lashed out Friday at Jon Bon Jovi's charitable, "pay it forward" restaurant, claiming the eatery is attracting a problematic number of unhoused people to the town of Toms River. Mayor Dan Rodrick claims that Bon Jovi's popup restaurant, JBJ Soul Kitchen which operates out of an Ocean County library, is nothing more than a "soup kitchen" that's within walking distance of a school. "We appreciate that Bon Jovi wants to feed people that are needy," Rodrick told NBC News. "But the public library down a block from a school is not the appropriate place to bus homeless in from all over the state of New Jersey and other states." Through the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, the "Livin' on a Prayer" singer and wife Dorothea run JBJ Soul Kitchen, a nonprofit community restaurant where patrons pay a "suggested donation." "There are no prices on our menu," according to the restaurant's website. "Instead, we offer a suggested donation to our paying customers and we ask that you Pay it Forward to cover the cost of those who are unable to pay for their meals." It has permanent locations in Red Bank, Toms River, Newark and Jersey City and this recently opened pop-up Toms River location. That temporary spot opened doors in February on Washington Street. "It is not a restaurant," Rodrick said. "It is a soup kitchen that they put there for the homeless that they're bussing in." A rep for the famed Garden State rocker could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday. An attorney representing the Ocean County Library Commission said the JBJ pop-up has a lease that goes to May 23. But the lawyer didn't immediately address the mayor's assertion that unhoused people coming to that location are taxing town resources. "They're (patrons at the pop-up) not from Toms River and Toms River should not have to bear the brunt of homelessness for the entire county of Ocean, especially when not a single one of these folks are from Toms River," Rodrick said. While the town has no immediate options to have the eatery shuttered, Rodrick said his legal team is weighing lawsuits that could eventually lead to its closure. household income of a little less than $95,000 and is probably best known for its youth baseball. The Toms River East American team, featuring future MLB player Todd Frazier, won the 1998 Little League World Series.
CBS News
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Toms River mayor says he wants Jon Bon Jovi's charitable restaurant gone
The mayor of one New Jersey town says the charitable efforts of rock star Jon Bon Jovi and his wife are creating problems, but others in the area say they're not to blame. Through the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, the couple established JBJ Soul Kitchen , a nonprofit community restaurant that serves those in need with locations in Red Bank, Toms River, Newark and Jersey City. "Where those who are unable to pay volunteer their time. Those who can pay, pay for their meal and donate to pay it forward," Dorothea Bon Jovi said in an Instagram video. In February, the couple opened a temporary pop-up food kitchen inside the Ocean County Library in Toms River, and the following month, Bon Jovi and his wife celebrated the milestone 200,000th meal served at their restaurants. One patron named Michael, who has fallen on hard times and is unsheltered, says it has been a blessing. "It's something that you feel from the heart where someone has done something for the community," he said. "It's just a really nice place for us when we are hungry," a patron named Devon said. But the pop-up restaurant could be "livin' on a prayer" if Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick has his way. "I definitely want it gone, and I want the county to stop dropping people off in Toms River," he said. Rodrick says Bon Jovi's restaurant is making his township a haven for people experiencing homelessness, claiming nonprofits are gathering people from across the state and bringing them to the township. "We certainly don't think that the library is a good place. The issue was never Bon Jovi. It was Ocean County Board of Commissioners who engaged with these nonprofits," he said. "It's a real safety concern. These folks aren't vetted." Ocean County Commissioner Robert Arace said the county isn't busing anyone to Toms River and that Bon Jovi's pop-up will be at the library until May. "He's saying that incidents have increased? We have data that they have not increased. It is not a soup kitchen," Arace said. The Bon Jovis released a joint statement last week, saying, "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."
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jon Bon Jovi slammed for turning NJ town into ‘ground zero' for homeless
Jon Bon Jovi's soup kitchen is causing more issues than it's solving, in the opinion of Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick. Rodrick spoke with Fox News Digital via phone, explaining that the New Jersey city has a homelessness problem that is being exacerbated by Bon Jovi and other nonprofits. "We don't want to be ground zero for homelessness. We don't want to be a dumping ground for the homeless problem in the state of New Jersey. The state of New Jersey needs to step up and take care of this problem. They have the resources, and bussing people in from all over to Toms River is not a safe situation." Rodrick has not spoken directly with Bon Jovi or his organization that runs the soup kitchen, the JBJ Soul Foundation, but admits he is frustrated that the community kitchen opened in the library in Toms River. Bon Jovi-owned Restaurant Giving Away Meals To Furloughed Government Workers Impacted By Shutdown "He's already operating, he operated something in the Silverton section of town. But it was like a restaurant where people go, and they pay for their meal, and they feel good that the money's going to be used for something. But this pop-up thing at the library was primarily geared toward making the library, the public library, ground zero for homelessness," Rodrick said. Read On The Fox News App The pop-up restaurant opened on Feb. 11 and is one of a total of four locations in the state. It allows diners to pay it forward and cover a suggested $12 cost for those who can't afford a meal there. Those who can't pay are able to volunteer at the community kitchen, which is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, in exchange for sandwiches, wraps, bowls and salads. Bruce Springsteen 'Was Not Comfortable' In Los Angeles Or New York, Feels 'Safe' In New Jersey In a statement to the New York Post, Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, who both run the nonprofit, said, "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." "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." Prior to Bon Jovi's organization, Rodrick told Fox News Digital his concerns began after he took office about a year ago, when he was able to close down two homeless encampments and get individuals into housing. But then the Ocean County Board decided to open a warming center, and according to Rodrick, nonprofits began "bussing people into town." Rodrick said he raised his concerns to the board, but "they did it anyway and engaged a nonprofit that has various warming centers across the state and, inevitably, they start bussing people into town. Because if their beds are full in one town, they're incentivized to hang on to these people, and they start putting them in your warming center." "We wound up with dozens and dozens of people being dropped off downtown every single day at the library no less, where a mom should feel comfortable walking into the library with her daughter and get a book. You shouldn't have to walk through gangs of two dozen intoxicated or mentally ill homeless individuals, and that's the real issue here," adding there have been numerous police and EMS calls since March from the library. He also claims that there is "a lot of money that chases around this issue." "One of these nonprofits, he formed a nonprofit, this guy, and within a few short years he's bringing in almost a million dollars in revenue, $750,000 according to charitable organization reports," Rodrick said, while declining to call out a specific charity. Click Here To Sign Up For The Entertainment Newsletter "So, I mean, that's just this little operator who handles 15-20 people at a time, and three quarters of a million dollars is a lot of money, so you can only imagine how much money there is out there for this issue; and you know when they call it the 'homeless industrial complex,' I mean, man, they're not kidding. It's a big problem." He continued, "I feel they're bussing them in to create the appearance of a problem so that the solution will be to open up a shelter, which will not improve the situation. It will drastically worsen the situation because then you'll have people dropping people [off in Toms River] from all over the place. And what do you do with them when you can't keep them? It's a real problem. It's a mental health problem, and it's a substance abuse problem." "I'm not accusing Jon Bon Jovi of being in this for profit," Rodrick noted. "We all like his music. And I think he means well and what he's doing is the right thing, trying to feed people. We could all agree on that." "However, bussing dozens of people from all over the state of New Jersey, all over the County of Ocean … I've had people come in from as far away as North Carolina and Philadelphia that wind up in housing that I have to then provide, hotels and such. So they're being bused in here, dumped here." Like What You're Reading? Click Here For More Entertainment News Bon Jovi and Dorothea also addressed Rodrick's claims that some nonprofit organizations are actually benefiting financially from bringing homeless people into Toms River. "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 told the NY Post. "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." I'm A Blue State Mayor And The Future Of Homelessness Scares Me Fox News Digital reached out to Bon Jovi, the JBJ Soul Foundation, the Ocean County Board of Commissioners and Ocean County Library for comment. Rodrick said Bon Jovi's community kitchen is set to close in May since it is a temporary pop-up, but he feels like the setup "ran roughshod right over the municipality" after he voiced his concerns. "They purposefully made the problem worse after me complaining that they were creating this public safety problem," he said. "Again, everybody, now every nonprofit around takes their people there. Would you want to take your daughter to the library when somebody's dying on the stairs? It certainly doesn't sound like Toms River, that's for sure." The mayor also said he is looking at legal action against "certain nonprofits" that are "creating a public nuisance and who have cost the township money." This does not include Bon Jovi's community article source: Jon Bon Jovi slammed for turning NJ town into 'ground zero' for homeless
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jon Bon Jovi slammed for turning NJ town into ‘ground zero' for homeless
Jon Bon Jovi's soup kitchen is causing more issues than it's solving, in the opinion of Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick. Rodrick spoke with Fox News Digital via phone, explaining that the New Jersey city has a homelessness problem that is being exacerbated by Bon Jovi and other nonprofits. "We don't want to be ground zero for homelessness. We don't want to be a dumping ground for the homeless problem in the state of New Jersey. The state of New Jersey needs to step up and take care of this problem. They have the resources, and bussing people in from all over to Toms River is not a safe situation." Rodrick has not spoken directly with Bon Jovi or his organization that runs the soup kitchen, the JBJ Soul Foundation, but admits he is frustrated that the community kitchen opened in the library in Toms River. Bon Jovi-owned Restaurant Giving Away Meals To Furloughed Government Workers Impacted By Shutdown "He's already operating, he operated something in the Silverton section of town. But it was like a restaurant where people go, and they pay for their meal, and they feel good that the money's going to be used for something. But this pop-up thing at the library was primarily geared toward making the library, the public library, ground zero for homelessness," Rodrick said. Read On The Fox News App The pop-up restaurant opened on Feb. 11 and is one of a total of four locations in the state. It allows diners to pay it forward and cover a suggested $12 cost for those who can't afford a meal there. Those who can't pay are able to volunteer at the community kitchen, which is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, in exchange for sandwiches, wraps, bowls and salads. Bruce Springsteen 'Was Not Comfortable' In Los Angeles Or New York, Feels 'Safe' In New Jersey In a statement to the New York Post, Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, who both run the nonprofit, said, "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." "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." Prior to Bon Jovi's organization, Rodrick told Fox News Digital his concerns began after he took office about a year ago, when he was able to close down two homeless encampments and get individuals into housing. But then the Ocean County Board decided to open a warming center, and according to Rodrick, nonprofits began "bussing people into town." Rodrick said he raised his concerns to the board, but "they did it anyway and engaged a nonprofit that has various warming centers across the state and, inevitably, they start bussing people into town. Because if their beds are full in one town, they're incentivized to hang on to these people, and they start putting them in your warming center." "We wound up with dozens and dozens of people being dropped off downtown every single day at the library no less, where a mom should feel comfortable walking into the library with her daughter and get a book. You shouldn't have to walk through gangs of two dozen intoxicated or mentally ill homeless individuals, and that's the real issue here," adding there have been numerous police and EMS calls since March from the library. He also claims that there is "a lot of money that chases around this issue." "One of these nonprofits, he formed a nonprofit, this guy, and within a few short years he's bringing in almost a million dollars in revenue, $750,000 according to charitable organization reports," Rodrick said, while declining to call out a specific charity. Click Here To Sign Up For The Entertainment Newsletter "So, I mean, that's just this little operator who handles 15-20 people at a time, and three quarters of a million dollars is a lot of money, so you can only imagine how much money there is out there for this issue; and you know when they call it the 'homeless industrial complex,' I mean, man, they're not kidding. It's a big problem." He continued, "I feel they're bussing them in to create the appearance of a problem so that the solution will be to open up a shelter, which will not improve the situation. It will drastically worsen the situation because then you'll have people dropping people [off in Toms River] from all over the place. And what do you do with them when you can't keep them? It's a real problem. It's a mental health problem, and it's a substance abuse problem." "I'm not accusing Jon Bon Jovi of being in this for profit," Rodrick noted. "We all like his music. And I think he means well and what he's doing is the right thing, trying to feed people. We could all agree on that." "However, bussing dozens of people from all over the state of New Jersey, all over the County of Ocean … I've had people come in from as far away as North Carolina and Philadelphia that wind up in housing that I have to then provide, hotels and such. So they're being bused in here, dumped here." Like What You're Reading? Click Here For More Entertainment News Bon Jovi and Dorothea also addressed Rodrick's claims that some nonprofit organizations are actually benefiting financially from bringing homeless people into Toms River. "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 told the NY Post. "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." I'm A Blue State Mayor And The Future Of Homelessness Scares Me Fox News Digital reached out to Bon Jovi, the JBJ Soul Foundation, the Ocean County Board of Commissioners and Ocean County Library for comment. Rodrick said Bon Jovi's community kitchen is set to close in May since it is a temporary pop-up, but he feels like the setup "ran roughshod right over the municipality" after he voiced his concerns. "They purposefully made the problem worse after me complaining that they were creating this public safety problem," he said. "Again, everybody, now every nonprofit around takes their people there. Would you want to take your daughter to the library when somebody's dying on the stairs? It certainly doesn't sound like Toms River, that's for sure." The mayor also said he is looking at legal action against "certain nonprofits" that are "creating a public nuisance and who have cost the township money." This does not include Bon Jovi's community article source: Jon Bon Jovi slammed for turning NJ town into 'ground zero' for homeless
