RELIGION

Bon Jovi donation helps save Ben Franklin's gravestone

Associated Press
Published | Updated

A crack runs through Benjamin Franklin's a gravestone at the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. A fundraising campaign has been launched to save Franklin's damaged gravestone. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (The Associated Press)

Tourists peer throughout a fence at the Benjamin Franklin's grave at the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. A fundraising campaign has been launched to save Franklin's damaged gravestone. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (The Associated Press)

A penny rests on a crack in Benjamin Franklin's a gravestone at the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. A fundraising campaign has been launched to save Franklin's damaged gravestone. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (The Associated Press)

A fundraising campaign to help save Benjamin Franklin's damaged gravestone is no longer livin' on a prayer.

Rocker Jon bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, on Tuesday donated $5,000 to the Christ Church Preservation Trust to quickly push it past its $10,000 goal.

The marble ledger tablet marking Franklin's grave at Philadelphia's Christ Church Burial Ground has developed a significant crack on top of the pitting caused by the ritual of tossing pennies onto Franklin's grave.

Thousands of coins are thrown onto the marker each year in a tribute to Franklin's adage, "a penny saved, is a penny earned."

Franklin, who died in 1790, is one of seven signers of the Declaration of Independence buried across from Independence Mall.

The trust received grants to cover most of the restoration costs.

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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com