TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen pop-up restaurant, which is being labeled a soup kitchen for the homeless, located inside the Ocean County Library’s Toms River branch, is set to close its doors on Thursday, May 23, as its temporary lease with the county expires.
The nonprofit eatery, operated by the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, has been at the center of a heated debate in Toms River, with Mayor Daniel Rodrick criticizing the initiative for allegedly attracting homeless individuals to the downtown area and as a strategy by Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore to create the illusion of a homeless crisis in the county.
Gilmore is backing a plan to build a massive homeless shelter on Route 9, to serve as a central hub for the region’s homeless population. He is allegedly working with developer Jack Morris to build the project, which could turn out to be lucrative for the two partners in the form of federal subsidies and through the homeless industrial complex.
Rodrick is asking the county commissioners to not renew the lease after it expires on Friday.
“I’m asking the county commissioners not to renew this lease,” Rodrick said. “The library needs to be a safe place for our children to read and study.”
Chairman George Gilmore, who is also a paid chief consultant for New Jersey GOP candidate Bill Spadea through the Common Sense Club PAC, and county commissioners are clashing with Rodrick over a proposed homeless campus on Route 9, further intensifying local tensions over homelessness solutions.
However, Mayor Rodrick has repeatedly called the pop-up a “soup kitchen” and argued that it has turned the library into a “day shelter,” drawing homeless individuals from across New Jersey and beyond. “We don’t want to be ground zero for homelessness,” Rodrick told Fox News Digital, claiming that nonprofits are busing people into Toms River, straining local resources and increasing safety concerns. He cited incidents, including a fatal overdose on library grounds, and argued that the library—located near a school and township parking structure—is an inappropriate venue for such an initiative. Rodrick has emphasized that his issue is not with Bon Jovi personally but with the Ocean County Board of Commissioners, who approved the lease.
The Soul Kitchen, which opened its pop-up location on February 6, operates on a “pay-it-forward” model, offering three-course meals for a suggested donation of $12.
Patrons unable to pay can volunteer in exchange for a meal. The initiative, led by Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, aims to combat food insecurity and connect people to resources like housing, employment, and mental health support. Since its inception in 2011, the JBJ Soul Foundation has served over 208,000 meals across its locations in Red Bank, Toms River, Newark, and Jersey City, with the Toms River pop-up intended to serve library staff, county employees, courthouse workers, and local students.
Ocean County Commissioner Jennifer Bacchione, a liaison to the library commission, has also pushed back against Rodrick’s characterization of the Soul Kitchen.
“It does not give away food for free,” she said, noting that the pop-up operates with a structured payment model and is not a traditional soup kitchen.
Bacchione and Commissioner Robert Arace have denied claims of increased incidents at the library, with Arace stating, “We have data that they have not increased.” To address safety concerns, the county has discussed placing sheriff’s deputies at the Toms River and Lakewood library branches.
After denouncing those claims, the Ocean County Board of Commissioners ordered sheriff’s officers to provide security for young families visiting the library. Police records show multiple incidents involving the homeless population downtown and at a county endorsed warming shelter.
The controversy over the Soul Kitchen is intertwined with a broader political dispute over homelessness in Ocean County, one of only two New Jersey counties without a year-round licensed shelter.
Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore and commissioners, including Arace, have championed a proposed homeless campus on Route 9, which would centralize services like housing, drug treatment, and job placement for the region’s unhoused population.
The plan, reportedly involving developer Jack Morris, has drawn fierce opposition from Rodrick and other Toms River officials, who argue it would make the township a “homeless capital” and burden local infrastructure. Rodrick has accused Gilmore of using the project for political and financial gain, claims Gilmore, a convicted felon, pardoned by President Donald J. Trump, denies.
The Ocean County Board of Commissioners has not yet decided whether to renew the Soul Kitchen’s lease, leaving the pop-up’s future uncertain. Commissioner Bacchione indicated that the county currently has no plans to extend the lease, but no final decision has been announced.
As the lease expiration looms, the controversy underscores broader challenges in addressing homelessness and food insecurity while balancing community needs. The outcome of the Soul Kitchen’s tenure at the library and the Route 9 campus proposal will likely shape Toms River’s approach to these issues in the months ahead
