# The Poston Foundation
**Canonical HTML:** https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/about/
**Machine-readable alternate:** https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/about/index.md
**Page description:** Learn about The Poston Foundation, its South Carolina roots, Carolina Cares direct aid, Poston Preserve, GERT Makes Waves, and opportunities to give, sponsor, or partner.
> This Markdown file is a machine-readable alternate of the canonical public HTML page. For citation, attribution, and navigation, use the canonical HTML URL above.
---
About
# The Poston Foundation
Rooted in South Carolina. Built around practical work.
The Poston Foundation is a Columbia-based 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 2020. Our work centers on three focused initiatives: practical direct aid through Carolina Cares, place-based preservation and community development through The Poston Preserve Initiative, and children’s literacy and coastal education through GERT Makes Waves.
[Our foundation](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/about/#about-overview-title)[Our history](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/about/#foundation-story-title)[Our programs](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/about/#foundation-programs-title)[Get involved](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/about/#foundation-participation-title)
Our Foundation
## South Carolina roots. Practical work. Responsible stewardship.
The Foundation began in 2020, when Carolina Cares volunteers were already going into Columbia with food, water, hygiene supplies, blankets, sleeping bags, clothing, and other basic necessities during the first months of COVID-19.
Today the Foundation combines direct community support with stronger fundraising, governance, financial, volunteer, documentation, and reporting systems.
[Leadership and Governance ›](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/leadership-and-governance/)
Founded**2020**
Established in South Carolina
Leadership**Eric Chalmers Poston**
Founder & Executive Director
Status**501(c)(3)**
IRS-recognized public charity
Service Area**South Carolina**
Current public focus
Leadership & Governance
## Visible leadership. Clear responsibility.
Eric Chalmers Poston founded The Poston Foundation in 2020 and serves as Founder & Executive Director and a member of the three-person Board of Directors. Current leadership responsibilities include fundraising, public communications, grant readiness, program development, governance coordination, Carolina Cares, The Poston Preserve Initiative, and GERT Makes Waves.
Eric Chalmers Poston · Founder & Executive Director / DirectorHarold Chalmers Poston · DirectorMaxine Moody Poston · Director
Public governance information, board roles, internal-control priorities, and due-diligence links are maintained on the Leadership & Governance and Transparency pages.
[Leadership & Governance](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/leadership-and-governance/)[Review Public Records](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/transparency/)
What Guides the Work
## What we want people to experience when they work with us.
### Our Values
People should be treated with dignity. Donors should be able to understand where support goes. Partners should understand the Foundation’s programs, priorities, and commitments.
### Our Approach
Start with something useful. Build the structure around it. Keep the program simple enough to explain, disciplined enough to document, and flexible enough to respond to real conditions.
### Our Legacy
The Foundation is family-rooted and South Carolina-rooted. The name matters because it connects the organization to a place, a history, and a responsibility to leave something useful behind.
Mission Areas
## Distinct programs, connected by one mission.
### Immediate Needs
Carolina Cares helps provide useful essentials when people are facing hardship, instability, or an immediate gap in basic resources.
### Carolina Cares
The Foundation’s direct-aid initiative centered on Essentials Kits and related charitable support.
[Explore the Carolina Cares Initiative ›](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/carolina-cares/)
### Place-Based Development
The Poston Preserve Initiative begins with historic Poston, South Carolina—preserving its record, strengthening community visibility, and building a foundation for future local investment.
### History & Identity
Preserving local history and identity is part of strengthening a community’s future, especially in places that are easy to overlook.
From Direct Service to a Stronger Foundation
## Our history informs the work we are building today.
### 2020: practical help in Columbia
The Foundation’s roots are in direct, in-person support. Carolina Cares outreach during the first months of COVID-19 brought food, water, personal-care supplies, clothing, blankets, and other necessities into the community. The original field videos and news coverage remain part of the public record.
That early work established a straightforward principle: useful essentials matter when a person is facing a difficult day or an immediate gap in resources. The [Carolina Cares history archive](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/carolina-cares/history/) preserves this period with its own dates and context.
### 2026: structured program growth
The current Carolina Cares framework organizes direct aid around a consistent, supportable operating cycle. That means organizing fundraising, kit preparation, distribution planning, donor records, volunteer participation, and reporting around an achievable operating cycle.
The Foundation is also developing The Poston Preserve Initiative, beginning with historic Poston in Florence County. Its first phase pairs public history and resident engagement with practical planning for modest local improvements.
GERT Makes Waves adds a book-centered charitable pathway for children’s literacy, sponsored book outreach, coastal education, and responsible conservation purposes.
People and Place
## Three programs with distinct work and a shared public purpose.
One responds to immediate material needs. One begins with the identity, history, and future of a defined South Carolina community. The third connects children’s books with literacy, coastal education, and responsible conservation purposes.
### Carolina Cares Initiative
Essentials Kits are practical support packages for individuals and families experiencing hardship, housing instability, financial stress, or short-term crisis. Possible contents include hygiene items, socks, first-aid basics, shelf-stable snacks, water, seasonal supplies, and local resource information.
The current twelve-month program framework is $30,000, with a goal of approximately 1,000 Essentials Kits.
[Explore the program and funding plan ›](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/carolina-cares/)
### The Poston Preserve Initiative
Poston is a historic unincorporated community in Florence County. The initiative seeks to preserve scattered records and local knowledge while engaging residents and property owners in identifying practical needs and possible projects.
The $25,000 Phase One launch plan supports community outreach, the public archive, oral-history preparation, a modest community pilot, appropriate direct assistance, and conservation and civic research.
[Explore Poston Preserve ›](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/poston-preserve/)
### GERT Makes Waves
GERT Makes Waves is The Poston Foundation’s book-centered charitable campaign connecting the Gert the SEE Turtle series with children’s literacy, sponsored book outreach, coastal education, and responsible conservation purposes.
Its giving pathway keeps charitable contributions and optional donor benefits distinct from ordinary retail book purchases while supporting documented program and conservation purposes.
[Explore GERT Makes Waves ›](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/gert/)
Built With Community Support
## There is more than one way to make the work possible.
### For donors and sponsors
Contributions can support practical supplies and the work required to deliver and document them. Sponsors can discuss an appropriate program focus, contribution level, and recognition. The Foundation’s public briefs and proposed budgets explain the scope before a commitment is made.
[Review sponsorship opportunities ›](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/sponsor/)
### For volunteers and partners
Participation may include kit preparation, in-kind supplies, distribution coordination, community introductions, historical research, or preservation skills. Contact the Foundation to discuss current opportunities.
[Explore ways to participate ›](https://www.thepostonfoundation.org/volunteer/)
“
> Help now. Strengthen what comes next. Keep the work grounded in South Carolina.
”
— The Poston Foundation