Jon Bon Jovi treats federal workers to free food amid longest government shutdown

As the partial government shutdown reach day 31, Jon Bon Jovi offers the unpaid government employees free meals at his restaurant.

Over the weekend, the rock legend’s New Jersey restaurant announced on Facebook that government workers could stop by for a free meal.

Operated by Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Foundation, the JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, New Jersey is a non-profit restaurant where customers can have a meal regardless if they can pay or not. Donations are suggested, and one can even volunteer instead of payment.

On the restaurant’s Facebook page they posted their invitation that read in part:

“The JBJ Soul Kitchen and The Murphy Family Foundation would like to announce that the Soul Kitchen in Toms River, New Jersey will be open during normal lunch hours (11:30 - 3:00 PM) on January 23 and from 12:00 - 2:00 PM to provide meals for furloughed Federal workers and their families.”

Phil Murphy, the New Jersey Governor, partnered with Jon Bon Jovi to provide free meals to those in need. Many government employees have turned to food banks to feed their families, while dozens of other restaurants across the U.S. have opened their doors to unpaid government workers and their families during the shutdown.

Other prominent figures are also stepping up to help, as none other than the former president, George W. Bush and his wife, Laura hand delivered pizzas to federal workers on the weekend.

George Bush posted a picture of himself carrying boxes of pizza to a group of workers and captioned it with an appeal for the shutdown to end, as he said in part:

"It’s time for leaders on both sides to put politics aside, come together, and end this shutdown."

Ten days ago, the partial government shutdown became the longest in American history, surpassing the 21-day shutdown during the 1990s under the Clinton administration.

The shutdown began on December 22 and had affected 800,000 government employees, and those working without pay had to face doing without another paycheck as the shutdown continues.

Over the weekend President Trump suggested a compromise. Instead of a solid wall, he will settle for steel slat barriers instead which will cost $5.7 billion.

Wanting extra support along the border Trump also suggested 75 new immigration judges, about 3,000 additional border patrol agents and a three-year extension for TPS and DACA. Another $805 million to be allocated towards drug detection technology and $800 million for humanitarian assistance.

But the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi stood by her resolve and rejected President Trump’s alternative and said:

“What is original in the president’s proposal is not good. What is good in his proposal is not original.”

And as neither the president or the Democrats can agree on funding for the border wall, the shutdown continues. President Trump said earlier in the month that the shutdown can last months, even years if he does not receive funding for his border wall.

In the meantime, Americans are coming together during this time of hardship as they continue to pay the price for the ongoing political feud.