About

The Poston Foundation

South Carolina roots. Practical service. Long-term stewardship.

The Poston Foundation is a South Carolina 501(c)(3) public charity based in Columbia. Founded in 2020, the Foundation develops focused charitable initiatives that respond to immediate needs, strengthen communities, and preserve the places and stories that connect South Carolinians across generations.

Explore Our Initiatives Leadership & Governance

Carolina Cares community outreach in Columbia, South Carolina, in 2020 — Carolina Cares community outreach, Columbia, South Carolina · 2020

How It Began

A foundation born in action.

The Poston Foundation was founded in March 2020, as the COVID-19 crisis exposed immediate gaps in food, hygiene supplies, protective equipment, transportation, shelter-related necessities, and other basic resources across South Carolina communities.

Its first major public effort was the Carolina Cares Coronavirus Volunteer Task Force. Volunteers collected supplies, mobilized community support, and went directly into the field to reach people experiencing hardship—including individuals who were not always being reached through conventional distribution channels.

That experience established an operating principle that still shapes Carolina Cares today: practical help matters most when it can reach the point of unmet need.

Explore the 2020 Record View Media & Documentation

The Foundation Today

Two initiatives. One public purpose.

The Foundation's work now spans immediate direct aid and place-based community development. Each initiative has a distinct mission, operating model, and funding pathway.

Direct Aid

Carolina Cares Initiative

Carolina Cares combines practical Essentials Kits with a proactive Direct Outreach Model designed to help useful resources reach South Carolinians experiencing hardship, housing instability, financial stress, short-term crisis, or other immediate resource gaps.

The Essentials Kit is a standardized practical-aid tool. The Direct Outreach Model is the methodology used to identify unmet need, move assistance closer to where people are, respond to immediate barriers, and connect people with additional resources when appropriate.

Explore Carolina Cares Sponsor Essentials Kits

Place & Community

The Poston Preserve Initiative

The Poston Preserve is a rural heritage and community-development initiative beginning with Restore Poston, South Carolina, a historic community in Florence County's Pee Dee region.

Phase One combines public-history preservation, community documentation, resident and stakeholder outreach, modest visible projects, and planning intended to position the community for future support, partnership, and investment.

Explore The Poston Preserve

How We Work

Practical enough to matter. Disciplined enough to trust.

The Foundation is building deliberately: clear program scope, responsible governance, documented use of funds, and growth tied to real capacity.

Practical Service

Focus charitable activity on concrete needs, usable resources, and work that can make a recognizable difference in daily life.

Responsible Stewardship

Treat donated funds, in-kind support, volunteer time, and public trust as resources that require careful administration and accountable use.

Dignity & Respect

Approach people facing hardship as neighbors, not statistics, while protecting privacy and avoiding unnecessary barriers to practical assistance.

South Carolina Grounding

Build programs around local knowledge, community relationships, state and regional context, and a long-term commitment to South Carolina.

South Carolina Roots

Family legacy, translated into public purpose.

The Poston name reflects a multigenerational connection to South Carolina and, through The Poston Preserve Initiative, a direct historical connection to the community of Poston in Florence County.

The Foundation treats that inheritance as a responsibility: to preserve history carefully, serve communities practically, and build institutions that can remain useful beyond any one project or generation.

That same perspective informs Carolina Cares. Whether the work involves an Essentials Kit delivered to a person facing immediate hardship or the long-term preservation of a rural community's history, the objective is consistent: use the resources available to strengthen people and places in ways that can be documented, understood, and sustained.

Foundation at a Glance

A public charity with a defined structure.

Founded2020

South Carolina

Federal Status501(c)(3)

Public charity

HeadquartersColumbia

South Carolina

Current Initiatives2

Carolina Cares + Poston Preserve

EIN85-0559047

Federal tax ID

Leadership & Governance Transparency Impact & Accountability

“

We believe charitable work should be practical enough to matter, disciplined enough to trust, and local enough to understand the people and places it serves.

”

— The Poston Foundation

Get Involved

See the work. Understand the mission. Choose how you want to participate.

Support direct aid through Carolina Cares, partner with The Poston Preserve, volunteer, sponsor Essentials Kits, or contact the Foundation about community collaboration.

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