EARLY LAST WINTER, the fresh snowfall was melting, mixing with the red earth and caliche to become a thick, treacherous mud. The air was bitter cold in the way it gets around Gallup, where temperatures can drop well below zero. As Loren Anthony, founder of nonprofit Chizh for Cheii (Firewood for Grandpa), was making his rounds, delivering firewood to community members in need, he spotted a home with no tire tracks going to or from it.
The house had no smoke coming from its chimney, and Anthony’s instincts told him to get over there quickly. When he arrived, he found a grandfather all alone, trying to call for help. The elder had fallen hours earlier and couldn’t get up. His body was soaked. He was freezing and confused, thinking Anthony was his son. Anthony got him into dry clothes and made a fire, coffee, and food, which likely saved the old man’s life.
Unfortunately, this isn’t an uncommon scene on the Navajo Nation, which covers a 400-mile radius over four states. Almost a third of homes lack electricity, 30 percent don’t have running water, and 86 percent lack natural gas. So having wood for heating and cooking can be a matter of life and death.
“A good 90 percent of the elders that we help out don’t have wood,” says Anthony. “All the kids that should be helping are living their lives, trying to survive as well. People move away from home, and it’s hard for them to come back.”
In 2023, Anthony and around 50 volunteers delivered 8,000 cords (a stack of firewood approximately 128 cubic feet) to about 7,000 homes.
Brad Nez, a logistics section deputy with the Navajo Department of Emergency Management, often volunteers with Anthony. “When winter comes around, especially for Native people, it seems that’s when a lot of our elders get taken away from us,” he says.
Nez knows it’s about much more than just dropping off firewood for Anthony. He recalls one stop south of Gallup, where a grandmother was caring for her two young grandchildren in a trailer covered by a tarp to keep the roof from leaking. “I remember unloading the wood and they were so happy about it,” he recalls. “Their stove was barely going.” Anthony carried some inside and stoked the fire. “We always want to stay and do more,” Nez says, “but that day we got to them in the nick of time.”
In 2013, Anthony, who is also a musician, actor, and producer, started Chizh for Cheii by single-handedly delivering 30 loads of wood to 30 families out of his tour van. He was struggling with sobriety and wanted to focus on a mission bigger than himself. “It’s about saving lives,” he says.
Others saw his efforts, and the project started growing. In 2023, Anthony and around 50 volunteers delivered 8,000 cords (a stack of firewood approximately 128 cubic feet) to about 7,000 homes, including elders, veterans, and single-parent households. One cord of wood per family, Anthony says, barely scratches the surface of what is needed.
“I’ve never seen anybody do what he’s doing,” adds Nez. “He motivates you to pitch in. People come from miles and miles around to be a part of the woodcutting and delivery, knowing these elders need this help.”
Read more: The lifelong volunteer devotes himself to time-honored community traditions and creating new celebrations.
