Baking with a Purpose

Last week the Year 11 Legal Studies class, along with some Ranges TEC students, joined together to cook for the annual Easter Biscuit Bake. Together we made around 100 ANZAC biscuits, some which were sampled - to uphold quality control of course.  

Each year Prison Fellowship provides every Victorian inmate with 10 home-made biscuits, together with a card that explains the meaning of Easter. By this simple act of baking biscuits our students have demonstrated the MECS justice seeker thread, highlighting that those on the margins of society aren’t forgotten, and that no one is beyond the love of Jesus. 

Sharon Payze

Senior Secondary Teacher

Below are some past reflections by a Prison Fellowship volunteer regarding prisoners receiving their biscuits. 

Some prisoners are not good at delayed gratification and so the biscuits can disappear in one sitting. I asked one elderly inmate how he had enjoyed the biscuits. He said, “Oh, I haven’t touched them yet. My family is coming to visit me next weekend. I never have anything nice to give them, so I am saving the biscuits to share with them when they come. I am really looking forward to it!” 

Many of the inmates who receive the biscuits are moved, even humbled, by the fact that people around the state are willing to go to a lot of trouble to provide them with a treat at Easter. 

During the time when I was able to hand out biscuits to prisoners, I found that the disorganisation was such that I did not know how many times inmates came and collected biscuits. On one occasion, an inmate came in and humbly apologised for coming twice to collect a biscuit pack. He returned his second pack of biscuits. It was a bit of a turning point for him.