No toiletries tonight.
Someone staying somewhere temporary may have no soap, toothpaste, deodorant, wipes, or other personal-care basics.
THEPOSTONFOUNDATION
When basic necessities are out of reach, small things matter.
Carolina Cares helps provide hygiene supplies, clean socks, first-aid basics, water, snacks, seasonal necessities, and other practical essentials to South Carolinians facing hardship.
501(c)(3) Public Charity
The Poston Foundation
Practical help. Directly delivered. Carefully documented.
Founded in 2020 · Columbia, South Carolina · EIN 85-0559047
South Carolina
Carolina Cares
Current Priority
Help build the next Carolina Cares distribution.
A clean pair of socks. Toothpaste. Water. A snack. Basic first aid. These are small things until someone needs them and does not have them.
Carolina Cares is built around more than preparing bags of supplies. The Essentials Kit is the practical tool; the Direct Outreach Model is the method—helping move useful assistance closer to where unmet need exists while keeping distribution documented and accountable.
Why Practical Aid Matters
Sometimes the problem is very simple.
Hardship does not always arrive as one large crisis. Sometimes it shows up as a few basic things a person cannot replace, afford, or access that day.
Clean basics before work.
Clean socks and hygiene supplies can matter before a shift, interview, appointment, class, or another ordinary responsibility.
Too many bills, too little margin.
After rent, transportation, food, medicine, or another urgent expense, everyday necessities can be the items that have to wait.
Something useful today.
For someone without stable housing, water, a snack, basic first aid, or seasonal supplies can be useful immediately.
Carolina Cares responds at that immediate level. Essentials Kits are not represented as substitutes for housing, employment, health care, case management, education, or long-term social services.
The Essentials Kit
Useful by design.
Our objective is not to create an elaborate package. It is to create a practical one. Every item should serve a purpose.
HygieneSoap, oral care, wipes, deodorant, personal-care items
Clean BasicsSocks and other practical clothing basics
Food & WaterShelf-stable snacks and bottled water
First AidSimple first-aid supplies and appropriate safety items
Seasonal NeedsUseful items selected for weather and distribution context
Resource InformationRelevant local service and referral information when appropriate
Contents vary with community need, season, supply availability, donated products, pricing, distribution setting, and available funding.
Carolina Cares: 2020 → Today
The work came first. The structure followed.
Carolina Cares began during the first months of COVID-19 in Columbia. The original volunteer task force went into the community with food, water, sleeping bags, blankets, hygiene items, clothing, and other basic supplies.
The work was immediate and hands-on. Volunteers packed supplies, drove through Columbia, met people where they were, listened to what they needed, and documented the work so supporters could see what was actually happening.
In June 2020, WACH FOX 57 documented one Carolina Cares story involving a man who had lost work during the pandemic, became homeless, reached Columbia, and received practical help while applying for jobs. He later secured employment in Greenville.
Today, the same basic idea remains: practical help, delivered directly. That field-based approach remains part of Carolina Cares' identity. When appropriate and operationally feasible, the program can bring assistance closer to where unmet need is occurring rather than relying exclusively on centralized distribution.
What has changed is the structure around the work—standardized Essentials Kits, defined budgets, volunteer coordination, financial controls, privacy and dignity standards, partnerships, and measured reporting.
How Support Becomes Help
Simple on purpose.
Carolina Cares is designed around a straightforward cycle that keeps the focus on useful supplies and responsible delivery.
You help supply the program.
Donations, grants, sponsorships, and approved in-kind products give Carolina Cares the resources to act.
We prepare what is needed.
Supplies are purchased or received, organized, and packed according to need, season, pricing, and distribution conditions.
Kits reach the community.
Essentials Kits are distributed directly or through appropriate local relationships and community touchpoints.
We document what happened.
Purchases, supplies, distributions, and program activity are recorded so actual results can be reported responsibly.
Why We Are Rebuilding Now
Dependable help requires preparation before the need appears.
A reliable supply base lets the Foundation purchase needed products when prices are favorable, accept useful in-kind donations, replenish inventory, coordinate volunteer packing, and prepare for distributions without beginning from zero every time an opportunity to help appears.
The objective is not one successful fundraiser. It is to build Carolina Cares carefully enough to become a dependable, repeatable community-support program that can continue serving South Carolinians as funding and capacity allow.
We are a small nonprofit rebuilding our capacity. We would rather show careful progress than make claims the evidence cannot support.
Trust & Transparency
Built for responsible charitable giving.
The Poston Foundation is a South Carolina nonprofit corporation and IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity. Donor support is backed by defined program budgets, documented expenditures, public transparency materials, and measured program reporting.
Charitable Status
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS-recognized charitable organization based in Columbia, South Carolina.
EIN 85-0559047Public Transparency
Candid Platinum 2026
Public organizational and transparency information is available through the Foundation’s Candid profile.
View Candid profile
Nonprofit Network
Together SC
2026 participation in South Carolina’s statewide nonprofit network.
South Carolina nonprofit communityProgram Accountability
Documented Stewardship
Program budgets, purchases, kit preparation, distribution, and results are documented to support responsible reporting.
Clear records. Measured activity.Current Program Framework
Most of the budget is intended for the work itself.
Carolina Cares currently uses a $30,000 twelve-month working framework. Approximately 93% is planned for supplies and other direct program costs. The remaining share supports the recordkeeping, reporting, communications, compliance, and limited administration needed to operate the program responsibly.
These are planning figures—not completed impact claims. Actual costs, kit contents, and output depend on funding, sourcing, donated supplies, season, and operating conditions.
See the Full Program Budget$30,000Current twelve-month working framework
≈93%Planned for supplies and other direct program costs
$0Salaries charged to the current Carolina Cares program budget
Take Part
There is more than one way to help.
Carolina Cares is built to give individuals, businesses, volunteers, civic groups, churches, and community organizations practical ways to participate.
Give
Help purchase the next round of approved supplies and support upcoming preparation and distribution.
Donate to Carolina CaresSponsor
Put your business or organization behind Carolina Cares through a defined Essentials Kit Sponsorship.
View Sponsorship LevelsVolunteer
Help organize supplies and prepare kits when coordinated volunteer opportunities are available.
Join the Interest ListProvide or Partner
Donate approved new products, support a supply drive, or discuss a distribution, referral, or community partnership.
Contact the FoundationAbout The Poston Foundation
Small nonprofit. Serious work. Careful growth.
The Poston Foundation is a South Carolina public charity founded in 2020 and based in Columbia. We are in a renewed development stage, strengthening the fundraising, governance, financial, documentation, and reporting systems that support charitable service.
Our near-term objective is focused execution—not broad expansion. Carolina Cares is the Foundation’s primary current initiative. The Poston Preserve Initiative is a separate place-based community-development effort focused on historic Poston, South Carolina.
We believe credibility comes from doing what we say, keeping the records that support it, correcting what needs to improve, and growing only when funding and capacity support the next step.
Founded2020
Based inColumbia, SC
Status501(c)(3)
Primary current initiativeCarolina Cares
Real History. Public Record.
See the work as it happened.
The Foundation retains authentic photographs, field videos, public materials, and third-party coverage from the original Carolina Cares effort.
Carolina Cares
Every Essentials Kit starts with someone deciding to help.
A donor contributes. A business provides supplies. A volunteer gives time. A community partner helps connect the work with people who need it. Those individual actions become something useful placed directly into someone’s hands.