With help from the Red Cross, Vanessa Saunders has opened a country-style cafe in the community hall in Mustons Road across from the Karuah Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Named Mission Chew, funds raised from the cafe go towards supporting Karuah Aboriginal women and children.

‘‘We were recently given a shed by the land council for women’s business,’’ Ms Saunders said.

‘‘We had a sleep over one night ...  The idea came from that – to run a little cafe and whatever money it made went back into the shed.’’

She  runs Mission Chew with daughter Chenelle Saunders, niece Fiona Manton and Tirnette Simms.

Open to the general public, diners have two options to choose from - big, hearty country-style meals - which cost $10 for adults and $5 for children.

However, in keeping with the cafe’s mission, already in the three weeks it has been open Ms Saunders said she had fed ‘‘a couple’’ of hungry people with no money.

In return for a meal, she simply asked they pitched in for an hour and cleaned up.

Mission Chew has the support from the Red Cross and its food security officer, Danielle Tucker.

Ms Tucker said she was working with the women’s shed when the idea for the cafe arose.

‘‘It’s a really great community driven initiative that addresses a myriad of community issues including food insecurity,’’ she said.