Jaden Smith is responding to L.A.’s homeless crisis by launching a free vegan food truck.
Los Angeles is experiencing a homeless epidemic that was years in the making.
Over the past six years, the unhoused population in the city has risen 75 percent. The city's lack of homeless shelters and affordable housing has forced many who can't afford L.A.'s sky-high rents to live on the streets.
According to LAist, since 2000, renter incomes have decreased by 3 percent while rents have gone up 32 percent.
While the city has launched a $100 million-per-year program to help the problem, rapper, entrepreneur, and actor Jaden Smith has found his own way of responding to the crisis: love.
On his 21st birthday, Smith launched the I Love You Restaurant pop-up truck. The truck hands out healthy, vegan meals to unhoused people absolutely free. Smith himself follows a vegan diet.
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"@ILoveYouRestaurant Is A Movement That Is All About Giving People What They Deserve, Healthy, Vegan Food For Free," Smith wrote on Instagram. "Today We Launched Our First One Day Food Truck Pop-Up in Downtown LA."
The food bowls given out by the I Love You Restaurant feature dark leafy greens, sweet potato, black beans, and grains.
Smith hasn't announced the next time the truck will pop up in the L.A. area, but it'll be back soon. "Keep A Look Out Because This Is The First Of Many," he wrote on Instagram.
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This isn't Smith's first foray into charitable giving. Last year, his eco-friendly water company, JUST Water, partnered with a local church in Flint, Michigan to help with the water crisis. He also donated over 10,000 bottles of JustWater to local schools.
Just Water is a sustainably sourced water brand that uses non-plastic containers that create less waste.
"This has been one of the most rewarding and educational experiences for me personally," Smith said in a statement. "Working together with people in the community experiencing the problems and design(ing) something to help them has been a journey I will never forget. We are planning to deploy more water boxes in Flint and other communities facing similar challenges."