Bullhead City woman, after arrest for feeding homemade meals to the homeless, continues mission

BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. — As Norma Thornton was being arrested in March for serving home-cooked food to homeless people at a park in Bullhead City, her first thought was that she was being pranked.

She quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

The 78-year-old resident of Bullhead City, the Colorado River town about 90 miles southeast of Las Vegas across the river from Laughlin, would face a criminal charge for violating a city ordinance that prohibits privately prepared food from being served in a “non-social gathering” without a permit — specifically citing the act of feeding homeless people.

“It’s terrible,” Thornton said of the ordinance. “It’s dehumanizing.”

Thornton was issued a citation and released at Community Park, according to Bullhead City Police. She said she was later offered two plea deals of 24 months probation or community service, neither of which she accepted. Eventually, prosecutors dropped the charges against her.

Now, Thornton has partnered with the Institute for Justice and filed a federal lawsuit against Bullhead City to challenge the 2021 ordinance.

“It’s for the people,” said Thornton, a retired restaurant owner and lifelong cook. “It’s all about them. It’s not about me. … It’s about the people and about what’s right.”

Community Park was an ideal site for serving food to homeless people because of its accessible location and the fact that it had restrooms, water fountains, grassy areas and open seating, Thornton said.

Though the city ordinance states that feeding homeless people in parks “resulted in a deterioration of the condition of public property,” Thornton said she and the people to whom she served food were adamant about cleaning up after themselves and leaving the park better than they found it.

In a statement, Bullhead City officials emphasized that the ordinance still allowed the distribution of prepackaged foods, or prepared food with the necessary permit.

“The city asserts its ordinance is lawful and does not prevent a charitable act from anyone desiring to help others in a city park or assisting others in their own home, church or private property,” the release states.

Thornton continues to serve food to homeless people in Bullhead City in an alleyway behind a jet ski rental business — private property where she can feed people four days a week without violating the ordinance.

She and her husband moved to Bullhead City in 2017, Thornton said, and she began feeding homeless people in the park about a year later. It not only gave her purpose in her new home, she said, but also provided her with many friends.

“They are my family. I don’t have any other family down here,” she said. “And they know if they need something … if there’s any way that I possibly can, I’ll get it for them. I’ll do it. And they’ll protect me.”

Her husband, 72-year-old Richard Thornton, said he was surprised by how many people they serve food to have gone multiple days without eating.

Richard Thornton said he’s motivated to help because the people that he and his wife feed have become their friends. Additionally, he said their roles could easily be reversed. In that case, he said he would want to be treated with similar compassion.

“Knowing I’m doing a little something to make somebody’s day better — that’s the biggest thing,” he said.

As the sun began to set Wednesday evening in Bullhead City, Norma Thornton served a spread of hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, vegetables and various kinds of pie to a small crowd of homeless people whom she greeted by name.

Amid the smell of cigarette smoke and the occasional sound of a dog barking, she made sure everyone had eaten and taken what they wanted before the remainder of the food and the table, paper plates and plastic utensils with which it had been served were packed up into her car.

Many of the people present, before packing up their belongings and saying goodbye, approached Norma Thornton to catch her up on their lives, thank her for the meal and give her a hug — a gift she said she considered particularly special.

Norma Thornton compared the practice of sharing meals to a dinner party, where food is served as a way to establish trust and start conversations with others.