Bon Jovi donates $5K to restore Ben Franklin’s grave

It’s no bed of roses, but Ben Franklin’s final resting place has been saved thanks to the donation from a New Jersey rocker.

Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorthea donated $5,000 toward the GoFundMe campaign for restoring Franklin’s grave in Philadelphia yesterday, which boosted theChrist Church Preservation Trust’s to its $10,000 goal.

Jovi is a Perth Amboy, New Jersey, native. He was a majority owner of the Philadelphia Soul from 2004 to 2008.

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<p>As of Wednesday afternoon, the campaign has raised $12,086.</p><div class='s2nPlayer k-Tre9QH63' data-type='float'></div><script type='text/javascript' src='//embed.sendtonews.com/player3/embedcode.js?fk=Tre9QH63&cid=14111&offsetx=100&offsety=0&floatwidth=400&floatposition=bottom-right' data-type='s2nScript'></script>
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The campaign, launched on Nov. 1, seeks to raise money to restore Franklin’s grave at the Christ Church Burial Ground in Old City. Because of his popular adage — “a penny saved is a penny earned” —tens of thousands of visitors annually toss pennies onto the politician’s marble ledger. Over the years, it has sustained significant damage and a large crack.

Franklin was one of the seven signers of the Declaration of Independence buried at Christ Church.He died in 1790.