Jaden Smith is continuing his philanthropic efforts with a new restaurant. The actor and rapper announced the opening of the I Love You Restaurant, a vegan eatery to provide meals for people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles’ Skid Row area.
“It’s for homeless people to get free food,” Smith told Variety. “But if you’re not homeless, not only do you have to pay, but you have to pay for more than the food’s worth so that you can pay for the person behind you.”
There is no word on when or where the new dining establishment will be opened.
The new project is an extension of the vegan food truck of the same name he launched in 2019 on his 21st birthday. According to the Hollywood Reporter, they passed out brown bags with I Love You bowls of carrots and kale to some approximately 8,000 people in the neighborhood.
He also partnered with Café Gratitude to serve 10,000 free meals on Skid Row from the I Love You truck in 2020. On Instagram, Smith shared that the truck “is a movement that is all about giving people what they deserve, healthy, vegan food for free.”
The Karate Kid star has been involved in creating socially conscious enterprises for years. He and his father, legendary actor and rapper Will Smith, are the co-owners of sustainable water company JUST Water. In 2019, they replaced 19,000 plastic bottles with their signature paper cartons at the Virgin Sport ASICS London 10K race. Last year, his nonprofit 501CTHREE.org installed a water box at the ReFresh Spot to provide clean drinking water in Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles as part of a collaboration with KindHuman and Homeless Health Care. This was on the heels of the installation of four water boxes in Flint, Michigan, and one in Newark, New Jersey.
Smith is also a supporter of the plant-based movement. He teamed up with athletic brand New Balance to design his own vegan sneakers in a Wavy Baby Blue colorway and more recently, a bright pink version.