On Monday, rockstar and New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi made a trip back to his home state in order to present a $1 million dollar check to The New Jersey Hurricane Relief Fund to help families recover from the effects of superstorm Sandy. He presented the check on behalf of himself, the rest of Bon Jovi, and his wife Dorothea.
First Lady Mary Pat Christie, wife of Governor Chris Christie and leader of The Sandy Relief Fund, joined her husband and Bon Jovi in front of Sayreville borough hall on Monday morning when Jon Bon Jovi presented the check to Governor Christie. Watch the speech he presented below.
"My being here is not political, it's emotional," Bon Jovi said of his visit to Rolling Stone. "I grew up here. I went to school here. I met my wife here." Sayreville is also where a young Bon Jovi began his musical career. He used to play gigs in at the hall and think he had made it to the "big time."
Now that he really has made it to the "big time" he hasn't forgotten Sayreville. Ever since the storm hit, Jon Bon Jovi has been active in efforts to help his home town.
In 2012 Bon Jovi was one of a number of performers who took the stage at the benefit concert: Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together, which was broadcasted live on NBC last November. That night Jon Bon Jovi shared the stage with Billy Joel, Christina Aguilera, Jimmy Fallon, Mary J. Blige, Bruce Springstein and more. All together the concert raised $23 million for relief efforts.
Bon Jovi also joined the lineup for the "12-12-12 Concert For Sandy RElief" which included guests like Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Billy Joel and Kanye West and donated profits to the Robin Hood Foundation, a charity dedicated to ending poverty in New York City. After Sandy, The Robin Hood Foundation launched a special relief effort for those whose lives were destroyed by the storm. More than $30 million was raised in ticket sales alone, according to the Huffington Post.
According to Mrs. Christie, The New Jersey Hurricane Relief Fund has now received about $34 million in donations from more than 29,000 people across the globe and continues to aid struggling New Jersey families.
At the press conference Jon said, "I know that this million dollars sounds like a lot, but it is really just a drop in the bucket and I know there are people still suffering. But what I like to call the power of we coming together — that means you, me, us — we are taking a step today to rebuild lives."
