Help "River Dave" Rebuild! SOUTHEAST FUNDS

Original Post (See Update Following):  Hi, my name is Michael and my wife and I own a Bar & Restaurant just outside of Nashville, TN. I was reading an article about an 81 year old man named David Lidstone, known as "River Dave".  I'd like to share his story with you as it's a story in need of a happy ending,  at ALL costs!

River Dave is now sitting in jail at 81 years old due to a squatting charge after living off grid on private property for 27 years! He's basically been given an ultimatum, "tear down your home and leave the land or rot in jail"  As expected, he's chosen the latter, refusing to give up the only home he knows..  The land he lives on is a 73 acre, undeveloped area, that has been used for timber harvests and has been owned by the same family since 1963. River Dave claims that years ago the owner gave his word that he could live on the land, but there is nothing in writing. The owner, Leonard Giles (86 years old), said he didn't know River Dave was there until the town administrator found out in 2015 and told him, expressing concerns regarding solid and septic waste disposal and potential zoning violations caused by his structure.

I understand this case from both sides, on the one side the land owner is catching grief from the city and on the other, River Dave is being evicted from the home and farm that he built with his own hands and has been living on for 27 years, and remember he's 81 years old at that! It's a rough situation all around, but in NO CIRCUMSTANCES should this man, at his age and for this reason, be sitting in a damn jail cell!  Sometimes in life certain people need to just "look the other way" and let time work things out.

With that said, money solves all issues. If we can raise enough money and awareness, we can solve this problem for good. How? Perhaps buy the land, or similar land nearby and have his home moved or rebuilt. Or any other numerous scenarios, but the first step is to get River Dave out of Jail and back in his home, get him represented by an attorney and then brainstorm some solutions. Are you willing and able to help? If so, please do. Any amount helps, and if you can't give, at least SHARE!  Life is too short for crap like this to take place. River Dave belongs in the hills, next to the river where he's lived for the last 3 decades. Thank you for your kindness and generosity and PLEASE HELP MAKE THIS VIRAL!  SHARE and SHARE AGAIN!

UPDATE 8.8.2021

David's home has been burned down by an unknown arson.  This should NOT be a deterrence to help however, as now we need help more than ever to secure him a new home to live in. 

Also, some of you have asked my relationship to David and about how the funds will be delivered.  I, Michael J Knight am a good will friend of David and I, along with my wife Dilya Knight who has been hard at work with this task, will be personally delivering 100% of the funds raised from this fundraiser to Mr. David Lidstone via Cashier Check on August 31st, 2021.  We will update with a photo of us giving the full raised amount to him in person.  I want to give this fundraiser the time necessary to reach a substantial, life changing amount and I believe that by the end of this month, we should have raised a sufficient amount to help, which is only possible if YOU help share this and keep it alive in the publics eye.

For those who don't know my wife and I, our business was destroyed by fire in July of 2019.  We had insurance, but very little was covered due to our policy.  Our income and livelihood was dramatically affected and it was a very difficult time for us, especially since we live in a multi-generational household that was HIGHLY dependent on the income from our restaurant.  It was during that time that so MANY people in the community, including friends, family, customers, news organizations and more, bonded together to get us out of the mess we were in.  13 months later, we reopened and now it's our turn to organize help for someone else in need. 

For our story, see: Jolly Ollies News Story 1 

and: Jolly Ollies News Story 2 

and reopening: Jolly Ollies News Reopening 

The picture above is of my Wife and I.