Jon Bon Jovi and Wife Dorothea Hurley Are ‘as Humble as It Gets’: All About Their Charity Work

Jon Bon Jovi has been earning a ton of praise after talking a woman off a bridge in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier this month — but his recent good deed comes as no surprise to those in his inner circle who say the rocker has a heart of gold.

“Jon isn’t showy about his charity work,” a source exclusively tells Closer of the 62-year-old “It’s My Life” singer. “He never brings it up, but it’s a huge part of his life.”

The insider points out that the Bon Jovi frontman “donates to so many causes, and he has his own foundation that he started 20 years ago that really focuses on helping people struggling to make ends meet.”

Jon started the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation in 2006 to “break the cycle of hunger, poverty and homelessness through developing partnerships, creating programs and providing grant funding to support innovative community benefit organizations,” according to the organization’s website.

Jon’s JBJ Soul Kitchen is under the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, and the restaurant chain serves both paying customers and those in-need. Jon and his wife longtime wife, Dorothea Hurley, have worked hard through the years to ensure that people don’t go hungry.

Still, the source notes, “He doesn’t just hand out money.”

Instead, “He and his wife Dorothea are very personally involved, and they’re very creative. They actually opened restaurants that are pay-what-you-can. No one hungry is ever turned away. But what’s really cool is that they also cater to paying guests. It’s very much a fully operating restaurant, so there’s no stigma attached to going there. That was important to Jon and Dorothea because they don’t want to segregate people based on their income or make people [who are] down on their luck feel less than.”

Jon Bon Jovi and wife dorothea
Jon and Dorothea, 61, have four locations of JBJ Soul Kitchen in total thus far, all of which are in New Jersey.

“One is even on Rutgers University campus in Newark, but they plan on opening more,” says the source. Other locations include Red Bank, Toms River and on the campus of New Jersey City University.

“They also donate a ton of food to local food banks,” the source adds of the couple, “and their foundation has services that help with affordable housing [and offer] job training.”

All of this is done out of the goodness of their hearts. “Jon doesn’t toot his own horn, but if you ask anyone in the music business, he’s someone that truly cares about others and doesn’t see himself as above anyone,” says the insider.

“Dorothea is the same way,” the source adds. “Even with all their money, they’re still as down to earth and humble as it gets.”

Jon and Dorothea first met in high school in 1980. The two grew up in Sayreville, New Jersey, where they attended Sayreville War Memorial High School and had a class together. In 1989, they tied the knot.

After more than 40 years together, Jon previously said that “mutual respect” is what makes their marriage work. “We grew equally and not in opposite directions,” he’s said.