TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Rock star and philanthropist Jon Bon Jovi and local charities are opening an anti-hunger center in a section of the New Jersey shore devastated by Superstorm Sandy.

The Jersey-born rocker and his Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation announced plans Tuesday for the B.E.A.T. Center, which stands for Bringing Everyone All Together. The center site is designed as a one-stop facility to help people get food stamps, health care, meals for at-risk children and seniors, and culinary-related job training. It will open later this year in Toms River.

Singer Jon Bon Jovi, center, announces his foundation will open a social services center in hurricane-ravaged Toms River, N.J., later this year. The Associated Press

The center also will house a second JBJ Soul Kitchen community restaurant, where diners pay a minimum $10 donation or do volunteer work for their meals. The first one opened in 2011 in Red Bank, New Jersey.

Bon Jovi says Ocean County suffered the worst damage from the October 2012 storm, but has not gotten a proportionate share of aid.

“Ocean County was directly impacted by Hurricane Sandy; it was not a wealthy county to begin with,” he said. “At one point or another, 45 percent of households that had kids needed emergency food relief services during the course of the last year. I know people who have been hungry. You’d be shocked to know these hardworking, middle-class people from the tri-state area who after the economic downturn couldn’t afford to keep a consistent, nutritious meal on the table.”

Toms River was one of the hardest-hit communities during Sandy. The nearby Ortley Beach section was devastated and many homes and businesses – as well as the main road – have not been rebuilt as the third summer after the storm approaches.

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