"Where those who are unable to pay, volunteer their time. Those who can pay, pay for their meal, and donate to 2pay it forward."
The rock star and his wife, in February, opening a temporary 3pop-up kitchen inside the Toms River Library.
Michael, who's 4fallen on 5hard times and is 6unsheltered, tells us it's been a blessing.
"Something that you feel from the heart, where someone has done something for the community."
"It's just a really nice place for us when we are hungry."
But the pop-up restaurant could be ¡°livin¡¯ on a prayer¡± if the mayor of Toms River has his way.
"I definitely want it gone, and I want the county to stop 7dropping people off in Toms River."
Toms River's mayor tells me, on the phone, Bon Jovi's restaurant is making his township a 8haven for the homeless, claiming 9nonprofits 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 10engaged with these nonprofits."
The Bon Jovis, releasing a joint statement last week, saying, quote, "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 11affordable and supportive housing."
One county commissioner says that the issue didn't start with Jon Bon Jovi's pop-up kitchen.
"He's saying the 12incidents have increased. We have data that they have not increased. It is not a 13soup kitchen."
The commissioner also says the county isn't 14busing anyone to Toms River and that Bon Jovi's pop-up will be at the library until May.
