Unsung Hero: Strader delivers baked goods to Cheyenne nonprofits
Dec. 29—Every Monday at 9 a.m., Ed Strader arrives at the Bimbo Bakeries USA warehouse in Cheyenne and loads trays of unused baked goods into his truck. Once his truck is filled with an assortment of bread, buns and pastries, he begins his route around town, dropping the products off at local nonprofits.
He has done this most days for the past 20 years, volunteering his own time and money for transportation. He said he does it just because it helps a lot of people.
"I kind of think you ought to have some kind of a purpose in life," he said. "And I guess this is mine, for the time being."
Strader's delivery route includes dropping the baked goods off at St. Joseph's Food Pantry, COMEA House homeless shelter, Senior Citizens Center, Meals on Wheels, Safehouse, Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless and the Boys and Girls Club of Cheyenne, where the sweet treats are the most popular.
"It's huge; we don't ever have to buy anything," said Robin Bocanegra, executive director of COMEA shelter. "And he brings it right to us."
Strader usually spends two to four hours a day picking up and delivering the baked goods, with Mondays being the busiest pickup day. He estimated he volunteers between 15 and 20 hours each week, while his wife, Carol Ann Strader, said it's more likely between 20 and 25 hours.
"He says he does five days a week, but sometimes he's here on Sunday sorting the items so he's ready to go on Monday," she said during a visit to the warehouse.
Bocanegra said Strader is very quiet and humble about his service. He'll show up, drop off the items and be on his way.
Local nonprofits get excited when they see him coming because they know it means he's bringing them goods that they won't have to go out and spend money on.
"He just comes across as this grumpy old man, but he does these amazing things," Bocanegra said. "He's very accomplished and very intelligent; he's really something else."
She was surprised to learn that Strader has a doctorate degree in business administration. Most of his career was spent either teaching or managing properties.
Strader and his wife moved to Cheyenne in 1971 from St. Louis, where he taught business administration. They moved for a job he took with the Air Force Institute of Technology, the Air Force's graduate school of engineering and management in partnership with the University of Wyoming.
After eight years there, Strader left his position to manage real estate full time. He spent 30 years managing properties and sold the last one in 2010.
He got started delivering bread through his volunteer work with St. Joseph's Food Pantry.
"I had advantages that lots of people don't have," he said. "And therefore, I kind of think you ought to try to help people that are less fortunate than yourself."
Carol Ann Strader spent part of her career working as a high school teacher. "Ed always accused me of having a passion for those kids," she said. "But he's got a passion for helping these people."
The products he delivers are usually not yet expired. It's shipped in from Bimbo Bakeries locations in Denver or Mexico, and the company gets a tax break for their donated goods.
Over time, Strader has seen the number of bread donations decrease.
"These guys that order the bread, they don't make any money for what comes back. So, they want to have as little return as they can, and the company wants every little return as they can," he said. "A loaf of bread costs $5. If I bring them 10 loaves of bread, that's $50 that Bimbo has contributed."
When he's not volunteering, Strader enjoys spending time outdoors. He has been a lifelong environmentalist, and is passionate about hunting and fishing. The first date he went on with Carol Ann was to hear an environmentalist speak in downtown St. Louis, and they used to take annual fishing trips to Alaska.
Now, they've been married for 50 years.
"He's kind of pretty special," she said. "He's my hero, too."
Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.
