Fred and Kathi bring bread to the desert

After decades working on film crews in Hollywood, Fred Nolan and Kathi Wildman-Nolan retired in rural Arizona near the town of Dolan Springs, a remote community in north-western Arizona about halfway between Kingman and Las Vegas. After settling in and joining a local church, they quickly saw the need that pervaded their community and got involved by donating bread to local organizations, including their neighborhood St. Vincent de Paul. 

Aside from general poverty, there are no grocery stores close to Dolan Springs, the closest being a 45-minute drive to Kingman. Many living in and around Dolan Springs struggle to have enough money for things like rent on a month-to-month basis, factoring in the rising prices of both groceries and gas make it harder than ever before. 

Seeing this intense need, Fred and Kathi wanted to do something. They got their chance when, on a trip into Las Vegas, they made connections with some employees from a local bakery, and got the chance to take leftover bread that would otherwise go to waste back to Dolan Springs. 

“They couldn't use all the bread, so that's where it kind of became a resource for us,” Kathi said. “It’s bread that hasn't been on the shelves, so we're so blessed to get fresh bread.”

Originally, they brought the bread back to their church to use as a hub to distribute out to different members of the community. The Arizona Bread Ministry, as they came to call it, was born. 

Over time, they recruited other volunteers to help them and made other connections to source bread and started delivering bread to other organizations, including Dolan Spring’s St. Vincent de Paul, which serves 200-300 individuals every 2 weeks. 

“We don't always get bread,” said Charlotte Kiffer, a Vincentian volunteer at Dolan Springs. “We're completely reliant on either buying it ourselves or having the Arizona Bread Ministry come and deliver to us.”

Charlotte is also often impressed with not just the quantity of bread they are able to bring, but the quality as well, often able to give specialty brands of bread such as Dave’s Killer Bread, which can cost as much as $7 per loaf.

“People look for bread,” Charlotte said. “They'll inquire when they're coming in, ‘What are we getting today? … Are we going to have bread?’ Invariably, we can make sure they have bread.”

When reflecting on the last decade of serving the community, Fred can start to tear up and says he just wants to help people.

“I think the people that show kindness are a special part of the world, it makes me cry because it comes from the heart — It doesn't come from a pocketbook,” Fred said. “I just want to be able to reach out to people who come to St Vincent… Life is really special, but it's not much special if you don't have kindness.”