At the Lismore Community Support area, an unlikely community cafe has appeared in the carpark behind The Quad.

The Trees not Bombs tent has become one of the only places in Lismore where community members can come to, sit down, hang out and get something to eat and drink, for free.

It’s become a lifeline to many isolated locals after the flood devastated the entire city - and destroyed all services, cafes, restaurants and shops.

The cafe sits alongside a number of other free services, including a food truck selling burgers, a coffee van, portable laundry, Service Australia and NBN advice vans, portable toilets and showers and the Resilient Lismore free pantry.

Susie Russell.

Crowd fundraising

The Trees not Bombs tent started with mid-north coast local Susie Russell – who brought the tent, helpers and food supplies up from Elands to Lismore just after the flood.

“I was watching Facebook friends rescuing people, when I saw the scale of the problem - and I knew there was something I could do to help,” Susie said.

“I saw a post from a friend saying there were no supermarkets and I knew people would need food.

“I worked with friends in Newcastle who were crowdfunding for cleaning products we pooled our resources to buy coffee and fresh organic veggies."

NEFA

Susie still had all the equipment from the North East Forest Alliance campaigning days – including the set-up for the travelling NEFA Liberation cafe.

So, she pulled the old tent out of retirement and loaded up the kitchen sink, the cups and plates from 1994, the couch and supplies into a trailer.

“We tried to come completely self-sufficient, so we would not be taking anything from people here,” she said. “We wanted to make a place where people could gather, sit, talk, and eat.

“We are probably the only vego and vegan place around.

“We are open 8.30am to 4.30pm and serve beans and eggs in the morning, coffee, tea, curries and rice and sometimes cake.

“If anyone wants to make cakes and bring them in, they are always appreciated.

“When it gets you down at home, come down, hang out and relax - we have books, games, scrabble and packs of cards.”

Trees not Bombs

Susie said the name Trees not Bombs was a collaboration between a group called Food Not Bombs and the North East Forest Alliance.

“So I called it Trees Not Bombs,” she said.

“Bombs are being dropped on the other side of the planet, while we are here in this catastrophe.

“And our government is buying submarines and weapons – but we have no money for feeding people in a disaster.

“And we know that if the logging in the upper catchment river areas hadn’t happened, then the flood wouldn’t have been so severe.

“I’ve seen landslides and erosion because the steep hillsides are degraded.”

Other food and drink places

There are other places where you can get coffee and free food in Lismore – including at the Koori Mail on Molesworth Street.

Food and clothing distribution centres are also located at 51 Wyrallah Road in the Used Furniture warehouse, at the Southern Cross University and the Goonellabah Sports and Aquatic Centre.

You can also keep a lookout for pop up food stalls that appear in different locations – including near the Stock Pot kitchen on Molesworth Street.