The Waffles Foundation Inc.

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Kissimmee, FL
The Waffles Foundation Inc.

We are a 501 (c) (3) charity providing musical instruments, lessons, and scholarships to kids in need in memory of my son Matt. Welcome to all and everyone.

We also provide community service hours to non violent offenders. We are a 501(c)(3) foundation which centers on mental health awareness and su***de prevention. One of our prevention tools is the collection and distribution of musical instruments for children and or anyone who can't afford to buy one. We gladly accept donations of musical instruments of any kind and we also gladly welcome requests from anyone who would like us to provide them with one. Please email your donations and requests to [email protected] or see our website at www.wafflesfoundation.org.

09/30/2026

One moment can spark a child's entire destiny. 🎸✨
When Matthew “Waffles” Bahna was in the 4th grade at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic School in Brooklyn, his teacher walked into the classroom carrying an electric guitar. That teacher was Mr. Henry Diaz. The second Matt saw that guitar, he fell completely in love. In that exact room, on that exact day, Matt knew music would be his life.
We heartbreakingly lost Matt in 2019 to a tragic accident. To keep his beautiful, music-loving soul alive, we used his memory to build The Waffles Foundation Inc., dedicated to putting instruments and scholarships into the hands of children who dream just like Matt did.
On Saturday, October 17th, 2026, our annual fundraiser is coming home to Brooklyn at Young Ethel’s! In a beautiful, full-circle moment, the final band of the night is The New York Rats—and playing guitar on that stage will be none other than Mr. Henry Diaz, the very teacher who handed Matt his first spark of musical joy.
How you can help from anywhere:
Even if you can’t make it to Brooklyn, you can help us pass the spark to the next generation. We are asking for just $5.00 from everyone reading this.
Every single $5 donation goes directly toward our outreach programs, youth scholarships, and providing musical instruments to kids in need.
👉 Donate $5 today: Use Photo up top for Pay Pal or this link for Venmo www.venmo.com/u/thewafflesfoundationinc
👉 Learn more about our mission: The Waffles Foundation www.wafflesfoundation.org
Help us honor Matt’s legacy and turn a $5 gift into a child's lifelong passion. Thank you for your love and support! 🖤💛 See less

08/27/2026

Matt's original music teacher Henry Diaz is in a local band and is doing a fundraiser for us on October 17th in Brooklyn. My nephew Michael will attend and speak before the show. I figure we can make this our annual fundraiser as it's different and has a great story of the relationship between a teacher and student and how lasting that can be. Henry was also the one who did a video for me where he went back to Holy Name and remembered meeting and teaching Matt and the expression Matt had when he first heard an electric guitar. Hopefully Michael can do a live stream which I can facilitate from Florida. We can use some sponsors so hopefully we can do the platinum, gold, silver at 3k 2k and 1k and also do some prizes with live stream or otherwise. Any thoughts or ideas are welcome always. Please help spread the word on social media via the flyer.

08/26/2026

Special thanks to the Tampa Bay Rays; particularly David Yamin for donating tickets to our foundation for us to take a family and their two boys to see a game.

The Rays are currently leading the division and the tickets are right behind the Rays dugout.

That says something for what a great organization the Rays are to provide such an incredible donation down the playoff stretch when could have sold these tickets for big $$$.

We are honored and grateful and are glad to bring some more sunshine to some kids from the Gulf Coast.

08/12/2026

Today marks 7 years since that fateful night but rather than mourn your loss we are going celebrate all the love you brought to this earth. Your friend put this on your memory page today and it exemplifies how much you brought people together and continue to do so. We love you and miss you. Sleep softly until we meet again my son.
Hey man, I miss you and feel like talking.
I started playing Halo with my little brother for the first time, ya know all the way through. We just finished Reach and CE. He’s loving it man, like genuinely fully entranced by the world of Halo.
I started to see your Top score and Times show up for each mission and that really hit me. I got sad I can’t lie, thinking about our fun playing Halo Doubles, Borderlands 2 and the Elevator of agony, and Portal 2 playing Rak-ba. I don’t wanna be sad about it though. I think playing games with my little brother is the closest I can be to him, and playing games that we played together should make these memories shine brighter.
You’re still hella loved man. Guess you earned that “From the grave” tattoo.

07/30/2026

Today our foundation donated dozens of band instruments to the amazing music program at Booker Middle School here is Sarasota.

I'm pictured here with Booker's incredible music teacher Carlos De Silva their "Teacher of the Year." The program at Booker Middle features three different band classes; rock, classical, and jazz making it the most comprehensive in the area. Booker is an inner city school with many students and great need so we are so thrilled to help them start the 2026 /2027 year off with a high note.

Special thanks to the Polis Family for their generous donation to us which made this possible and to all the people involved who helped make this possible including those at Music Go Round in Bradenton, Florida who helped repair some of them.

"For Those About To Rock We Salute You."

07/17/2026

So grateful to the Polis Family of Sarasota for donating another large batch of instruments to our foundation which will see their way to kids across America and here in the Gulf Coast.

07/16/2026

Our foundation is being considered by Macy's to be the recipient of their monthly roundup of customer sales in Sarasota UTC Mall from August to September. Please say a prayer that ours as this will greatly help us serve the ARTS / Music programs for kids.

04/06/2026

Grieving parents never spend holidays in a normal way but we are overjoyed that this Easter Day we were honored to receive the entire contents of a retired music teacher's store that he closed in Nevada for the kids we serve in our foundation.
Kerry had her first piano lesson from Mr. Michael Polise and did splendidly.
Happy Easter to everyone with love from our family to yours and a special hug to all parents and people out there who have that empty chair at the dinner table and hole in their hearts that never goes away.

02/14/2026

Today I'd like to wish the happiest of birthdays to my dear friend and co director in our foundation the incredible "Lorraine Knepple"

Lorraine became my friend at the Disney Store but when Matt passed she helped bring me out of the depths to start the "Waffles Foundation" and has been a constant source of wisdom and friendship ever since.

The foundation wouldn't have happened without her. She makes the impossible seamless and I am Blessed to have her on our team.

02/05/2026

We are proud and excited to announce our newest school partnership with the City Of Sarasota's Booker Middle School and it's incredible music teacher Carlos Silva.

If the Booker group of schools sounds familiar; it was at the elementary school on 9/11/01 that President Bush was reading "The Pet Goat" when he was told the news about the towers.

Our foundation has donated a large amount of varied instruments to their program today and will continue to support the school and the amazing classes the students receive there.

Since all of the schools in the county have a collaborative music program we will be assisting public school students throughout the county and this is just the first step.

Booker has the most dedicated music classes though and Mr. Silva was voted "Teacher of the Year for Booker in 2023. He's great man, husband, father, and of course musician. I know he and "Waffles" would have hit it off and Carlos and I talked endlessly about music during our meeting about Bass players, Lead Guitarists, etc. etc.

I am also happy to be a welcomed part of their school community and have been invited to attend a school concert this March.

We would like to thank all of our supporters who have given us so much love over the years and the trust with your donations both instrumental and monetary. We wouldn't be able to do what we do without you.

"For Those About To Rock We Salute You"

Address

3994 Mediterranea Circle
Kissimmee, FL
34233

Website

http://www.wafflesfoundation.org/

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