Choose or Sponsor a Book
Receive an available GERT title with a qualifying gift, sponsor books for young readers, or choose the complete collection at the qualifying level.
Children’s Literacy
Books and learning resources that encourage reading, curiosity, and early learning.
Coastal Education
Age-appropriate learning about sea turtles, coastal habitats, and environmental stewardship.
Sea-Turtle Conservation
Documented conservation purposes and responsible coastal education through the Foundation.
How it works
A book-centered way to make a difference.
GERT Makes Waves keeps the books at the center while giving supporters several clearly separated ways to participate.
Put Learning Into Young Hands
Campaign support helps expand access to books, early-learning resources, literacy outreach, and age-appropriate coastal education.
Help GERT Make Waves
Support also helps fund responsible program delivery, reporting, and documented sea-turtle and coastal-conservation purposes.
Choose your path
Support the campaign in the way that fits you.
Get a Book With Your Gift
Make a qualifying charitable contribution and select an available GERT title as an optional donor benefit.
Choose a book with your gift →Give a GERT Book
Help underwrite books and educational resources for young readers, classrooms, libraries, or community programs.
Sponsor young readers →Shop the GERT Books
Purchase books through the normal retail channel. Retail purchases remain separate from charitable contributions.
Explore the GERT books ↗Give Without a Book
Make a charitable contribution without receiving a book benefit and direct your support to the Initiative.
Give without a book →The Gert the SEE Turtle book series
Fun stories. Early learning. Coastal curiosity.
The books provide the creative and educational foundation for GERT Makes Waves.
Gert the SEE Turtle
Counting
Join Gert as she explores the coast and discovers numbers all around her.
Gert the SEE Turtle
Colors, Colors, Everywhere
See the world through Gert’s eyes as she discovers beautiful colors along the coast.
Gert the SEE Turtle
Emotions at the Ocean
Gert explores feelings including happiness, fear, surprise, anger, gratitude, and more.
More than just a story
A children’s book series with a charitable purpose beyond the page.
Gert the SEE Turtle is a children’s adventure book series created by author and illustrator Maxine Moody Poston to help young readers learn, explore, and engage with the world around them. GERT Makes Waves builds on that educational purpose through The Poston Foundation.
GERT stands for General Education with Respect to Turtles—an educational idea that naturally connects the book series to learning about the coastal environment.
The campaign connects books and educational resources with literacy, coastal learning, community distribution, sponsorship, and documented conservation purposes.
Meet Gert & Explore the Series ↗Sponsor learning
Put books and learning resources into young hands.
Businesses, schools, libraries, community organizations, and individual supporters can help underwrite book distribution, educational resources, community outreach, and the responsible operation of GERT Makes Waves.
Classrooms & Libraries
Support book sets, literacy outreach, and age-appropriate learning resources for approved educational and community settings.
Businesses & Community Sponsors
Discuss sponsorship, in-kind support, bulk-book needs, community distributions, or an appropriate recognition package.
Community Distribution
Help expand access to GERT books and related resources through documented community outreach and partner channels.
Read. Learn. Protect.
Coastal learning with responsible conservation language.
GERT Makes Waves uses the South Carolina coast as a setting for curiosity, early learning, and environmental awareness. Campaign resources may support age-appropriate coastal education and documented sea-turtle or coastal-conservation purposes through The Poston Foundation.
The Foundation does not promise a fixed percentage to conservation or name a conservation beneficiary unless a specific allocation or relationship has been formally approved and can be documented.
Support GERT Makes Waves
Choose a book. Encourage a reader. Help GERT make waves.
Use the secure GERT Fundraise Up checkout for qualifying gifts with optional book benefits, sponsored-reader support, and gifts without a book.
- Qualifying one-time gifts may include an optional GERT book benefit.
- Monthly gifts provide ongoing support for the Initiative.
- Books are optional donor benefits, not retail purchases; applicable fair-market-value information is reflected in transaction records and receipts.
Secure giving
Secure GERT Giving
Use the single secure Fundraise Up form below to select your gift amount and available campaign options. You may support the Initiative with or without receiving a book benefit.
If the embedded form does not load, open the secure GERT Makes Waves campaign page ↗.
Questions? info@gerttheseeturtle.comStewardship & transparency
Keep the charitable gift and the retail purchase clear.
Donor benefits
When a supporter receives a book or collection in connection with a contribution, the fair market value of the benefit should be disclosed in applicable transaction records and receipts.
Retail purchases
Normal book purchases are separate commercial transactions through the book-sales channel and should not be represented as tax-deductible donations.
Program use
Campaign resources may support education, book outreach, coastal education, conservation purposes, program delivery, fundraising, administration, fulfillment, and impact reporting.
Frequently asked questions
A clear giving experience.
Is this a donation or a book purchase?
This page presents both pathways. A Fundraise Up contribution may include an optional GERT book as a donor benefit; a normal retail purchase is handled separately through the book-sales channel.
Can I support the campaign without receiving a book?
Yes. Supporters may give without receiving a donor benefit.
Is my contribution tax-deductible?
The Poston Foundation will provide applicable receipt information. When goods are received, the deductible portion may be limited to the amount paid above the fair market value of the benefit, to the extent permitted by law.
Can I sponsor books for young readers instead?
Yes. The campaign can support sponsored book and educational-resource distribution through approved schools, libraries, community organizations, families, and other channels.
Where can I buy the GERT books normally?
Use the retail links to GertTheSeeTurtle.com or another approved retail destination. Retail purchases are separate from charitable gifts to The Poston Foundation.
How does sea-turtle conservation fit into the program?
The Initiative includes coastal education and may support documented sea-turtle and coastal-conservation purposes. Public materials should identify actual approved activities rather than imply an unapproved fixed percentage.
GERT Gives Back
Books can open a world. Support can extend the story.
Choose a book with your gift, sponsor young readers, explore the series, or support the Initiative directly.