A Virginia man stepped up to help a veteran who dreamed of owning his own business but says he lost almost $30,000 to a local company.
Nathan Faison of Landover, Maryland, said he spent his life savings on a mobile smoker so he could start a barbecue business, but almost four years later, Riverbend Smokers and Concession Trailers of Fredericksburg, Virginia, still hadn’t delivered the smoker Faison paid them $29,500 to build.
Hours after News4’s story about Faison aired, viewers started asking if there was a way to donate. One email in particular caught Faison's interest. Munjeet Singh of Reston offered to donate his competition-level smoker "to help this vet get his business off the ground."
Faison got to meet this very generous man this week. Two complete strangers now are forever joined together for their love of barbecue.
After a quick lesson on how to use it, Faison took the smoker home. He still can't believe it worked out for him.
“Because nobody gives you anything in America nowadays,” he said.
Riverbend’s owner told News4 he didn’t have to explain why the smoker was never built, and he hasn’t returned any of our calls since. His business is no longer advertised online.
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“I worked so hard for this, I’m not going to just let one guy just stop it all,” Faison said.
He filed a complaint with Virginia’s attorney general.
