The entity behind Street Buffet
The Schaffa Foundation
The Schaffa Foundation is the registered Australian charity behind Street Buffet. This page sets out who we are, what we exist to do, and how to independently verify our registration — for donors, partners, and anyone assessing us for a grant or a not-for-profit program.
Our mission
The Schaffa Foundation exists so that no one doing it tough in Sydney has to face that alone.
We believe dignity is not conditional — it does not have to be earned back before someone gets a hot meal, a kind word, or a place where they are seen. Founded by someone who lived through homelessness himself, the Foundation meets immediate need with practical, consistent care, and builds the kind of community that keeps showing up long after the first crisis has passed. Every program we run, starting with Street Buffet, is held to one standard: turn up, every time, with no judgement and no questions asked.
What we believe
Four things that do not change
Consistency
The same table, the same night, every week. People experiencing hardship can plan their week around us because we do not skip weeks.
Dignity
No forms, no assessment, no proving you deserve to be there. A seat at the table is not a reward — it is the starting point.
Community
Volunteers, local businesses and neighbours doing the actual work, week after week — not a program run at people, but with them.
Practical action
Every dollar and every donated tray goes to something you could point to on the table that night.
Founder
Ian Schaffa
Ian Schaffa was homeless at fifteen, sleeping on trains for the best part of three years. He found his way out through martial arts and went on to fight professionally — then went back. In 2015 he formalised what had started as one man handing out a bag of clothes into a registered charity, so the support could outlast any one person and keep showing up on the hardest weeks as reliably as the easiest ones.
Registration & governance
A registered charity you can verify independently
Every detail below can be checked directly against the public record — nothing here needs to be taken on trust.
The Schaffa Foundation is registered with the ACNC and its reporting is up to date. ABN 54 612 158 755.
Verify on the ACNC registerYou can view our full public record, including annual reporting, on the ACNC Charity Register. Additional documentation — governing rules, financial reports, or anything else a grant or partnership application requires — is available on request; see the contact details below.
What the Foundation runs
Street Buffet — our flagship program
Every Sunday in Woolloomooloo, volunteers set up tables and serve hot food, groceries and essentials to people doing it tough — the Foundation’s activity in practice, not just its name on a letterhead. As the Foundation grows, we intend to build on this same standard with further programs, rather than away from it.
100,000+
hot meals served since 2009 — one Sunday, one table, one community at a time.
For funders, partners & grant assessors
Assessing us for a grant or a not-for-profit program?
This page is built to be the single reference point for exactly that — our legal name, ABN, DGR status and registered address are set out above and independently verifiable on the ACNC Charity Register. If your program needs anything further — governing documents, financial reports, or a direct conversation — contact us and we will provide it.