Bon Jovi opens donation-based restaurant

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RED BANK, N.J., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Rocker Jon Bon Jovi has opened a non-profit restaurant in Red Bank, N.J., that targets poverty and hunger through its community kitchen concept.

There are no prices on the menu at Soul Kitchen, which opened Wednesday in a former auto body shop in Bon Jovi's home state. Diners can earn meals through volunteer hours in the kitchen or the local community. Cash donations are accepted from those who are able to pay.

Bon Jovi said the Soul Kitchen, which has been serving meals since 2009 in two different pilot locations as part of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, now has a permanent home.

"At a time when one in five households are living at or below the poverty level, and at a time when one out of six Americans are food insecure, this is a restaurant whose time has come. This is a place based on and built on community -- by and for the community," Bon Jovi said Wednesday in a statement.

Food is provided by Soul Kitchen's own organic gardens and donations by Whole Foods Market Middletown, N.J., in partnership with their vendors.