But what is more impressive is the people doing the baking. They range in age from three to five.

Every week the treats are collected from Alfredton Early Learning and Kinder by On Track Foundation board member Lorraine Gittings and offered alongside meals for the homeless at the Soup Bus. 

Ms Gittings said the bus fed between 60 and 70 people each night. And while the slices and cakes were always eagerly devoured, it was the story behind them that provided the greatest joy of all. 

“We let the clients know that our kinder children have made them and they can’t believe children are interested and children care,” Ms Gittings said. 

“Every Monday these children have not let them down. It is not what they make, but what it means to these people.” 

The idea came about after centre director Beth Matheson held a fundraising event last year called “Market Night” for the Soup Bus. 

Following the fundraiser, she was keen to find another way to continue the children’s involvement in the organisation and came up with a weekly cooking class. 

“When we first spoke to the children about it they were on board but it wasn’t until we went to the bus on an excursion that there was that connection they were able to put together,” Ms Matheson said. 

“They could work out what was happening and who the people were receiving the food who didn’t have money to buy it themselves.” 

Ms Matheson said the baked goods were something straightforward for the children to make, but also offered an educational opportunity beyond counting and measuring ingredients. 

“I think it is really important that as a community we are educating our little people to have an understanding of what is out there and doing good in the community,” she said. 

Ms Gittings agreed.

“Sometimes you need to start at this level if you want to change something that is entrenched in our society and we do have a lot of homeless,” she said. 

The Soup Bus is currently based at the Senior Citizens in Ballarat. For more information visit www.soupbus.com.au.