Inmates in local prisons will be able to satisfy their sweet teeth this week as We Care Thrift Stores are handing out fresh-made donuts during their Donut Days.

The local thrift store company has been making and giving out free donuts to prison for some three years now.

“Donut Days is when we cook fresh donuts, or fry them, to give to the inmates in some of the Alabama prisons as a means of communicating God’s love for them,” We Care Thrift Stores President Don Metzler said. “There’s a passage in scripture of giving a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus. We see this as giving a donut in the name of Jesus.”

The origin of We Care’s Donut Days comes from a connection with a company that sells donuts in mobile units.

“He came down to participate and give out donuts,” Metzler said of Carl Strite, who owns Strite’s Donuts. “It was his idea and we worked with him.”

Metzler said Strite’s Donuts is out of Harrisonburg, Va., and after going to one prison, things bloomed from there.

“The next year, we were doing several prisons,” he said.

To help off set the expenses of giving away the donuts, the donut stand will be at the We Care Thrift Stores in Flomaton today, and in Atmore on Saturday. The donut truck will be open from 8 a.m. to around noon, Metzler said.

When on site at the prisons, the donuts are prepared and then given out with the inmates’ afternoon meal, Metzler said.

This week, the donut mobile unit will make stops at William C. Holman Correctional Facility and Fountain Correctional Facility.

Metzler said after the donuts are given out to the inmates, a Christian service is held for anyone who wants to participate.

Metzler said Donut Days are an opportunity reach out to others with love.

“It’s an opportunity to reach guys with the love of Christ as we wouldn’t normally reach,” he said, adding that it also provides a means for inmates to communicate with those from the outside.

Metzler said this ministry couldn’t have been done without the cooperation from the state.

“I would like to thank Carl Strite for donating his time and equipment to make this possible,” he said. “I would also like to thank the Alabama Department of Corrections’ leadership, the wardens and their staff for allowing us this privilege.”