Five Years Of Pay-It-Forward Meals: JBJ Soul Kitchen marks milestone; more than half of guests are in need

A restaurant built around the idea that nobody should have to choose between eating and meeting other financial obligations has marked five years of serving the Rutgers University–Newark community. According to Rutgers University–Newark, the JBJ Soul Foundation and JBJ Soul Kitchen, the restaurant, founded by musician Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea Bongiovi, has served more than 14,000 meals to students, university staff and local residents since opening on campus in 2020. Located inside the Paul Robeson Campus Center, the restaurant was established to address food insecurity through a community dining model that allows people to eat regardless of their ability to pay. The milestone was celebrated on November 10, 2025, when Rutgers–Newark and the JBJ Soul Foundation hosted a special lunch at the restaurant. The initiative reflects a growing recognition that hunger can affect college students as well as families facing financial hardship. By making nutritious meals accessible without a fixed menu price, the restaurant aims to ensure that financial difficulties do not become an additional barrier to education.A restaurant where meals are not tied to incomeUnlike conventional res...