Just a few uncomfortable blocks from Hollywood’s studio lots, lies Skid Row, very much part of Los Angeles, though seldom acknowledged as such. While most celebrities manage to look everywhere else, Jaden Smith has been quietly turning his attention inward, toward Skid Row itself, imagining solutions for a community gets the shorter end of the stick.

In a recent TikTok video, Smith shared his long-term dream to serve the community living in Skid Row with proper and regular food from his brand I Love You and asked the viewers to join and support him in the journey.

“My dream in life is to have a building in Skid Row, where I can give out free meals every single day, breakfast, lunch, dinner…” said the musician Jaden Smith.

He is planning to execute his plan in the future by leveraging his brand not for a one-time charity but as a sustainable model. He wants to provide free vegan and nutritious food for the unhoused community.

He also said that his 2019 album 'ERYS,' which was shot in downtown, was the catalyst that gave him creative vision for his venture, I Love You in his interview with HypeBeast.

Smith further stated that while working with his father, Will Smith, on The Pursuit of Happyness, they had hired many people from Skid Row, which made it look more real because it involves real people. His 'ERYS' as a catalyst and the film as his inspiration inculcated in him the feeling of giving back that led to the Philanthropy, I Love You restaurants,and also his dream of giving back to Skid Row as he stated in his TikTok.

Jaden Smith, the young Philanthropist

Jaden Smith’s I Love You brand began as a non-profit food initiative with a very basic purpose of serving food to the current generation, whom he found cool and leaned towards aesthetics and designs. Once they started joining in, he was inspired to do something even bigger.

Smith expanded I Love You into limited-edition merchandise with graphic tees and hoodies whose proceeds are directed to fund the food initiative for the Skid Row community. This was done so people who can’t volunteer would still be a part of it.

He revealed in his HypeBeast interview that the name I Love You for the brand was also chosen, considering the words’ effect on one's mind. His pure-hearted non-profit initiative to provide for the needy is an example of commitment over publicity. 

Will you volunteer for the non-profit initiatives by Jaden Smith? Let us know in the comments.

Written by

Sreelaxmi Nair

Edited by

Aliza Siddiqui