Local First
Both initiatives begin with a specific South Carolina place or need rather than an abstract national agenda.
Initiatives
Two initiatives. Two different kinds of local work.
One responds to what someone may need today. The other asks what a historic South Carolina community may need for the years ahead.
The Foundation is intentionally keeping its public work focused: Carolina Cares for immediate practical aid, and The Poston Preserve Initiative for place-based preservation, history, and community development beginning in Poston, South Carolina.
Current Public Initiatives
Two programs with clear boundaries—and a shared commitment to South Carolina.
Carolina Cares Initiative
Carolina Cares provides practical Essentials Kits and related direct aid for people facing hardship, instability, homelessness, displacement, or another immediate gap in basic necessities. The idea is simple: put something useful into someone’s hands when it can help right away.
The Poston Preserve Initiative
The Poston Preserve Initiative begins with Restore Poston, South Carolina. It combines public-history preservation, community documentation, stakeholder outreach, practical local projects, and planning intended to make a small historic Pee Dee community more visible, better documented, and better positioned for future support.
Areas of Work
What both initiatives have in common.
Practical Work
The work should produce something useful: supplies distributed, records preserved, people connected, sites documented, or a concrete next step made possible.
View SponsorshipPublic Record
Plans, donations, partnerships, activity, and results should be documented clearly enough that a donor or community member can understand what happened.
Explore VolunteeringProgram Discipline
Growth should follow evidence, funding, and capacity—not the other way around.
Both initiatives use planning frameworks, but targets are not treated as completed results. Specific activities can change with funding, local input, partnerships, pricing, season, and operational readiness.
Review accountability approachProgram ModelDefined
Clear initiative structure
Public ClaimsConservative
No unsupported metrics
Funding UsePractical
Supplies and operations
ReportingMeasured
Factual public updates
Choose a program pathway
Different starting points. A shared standard of care.
| Program | Primary purpose | Current planning framework |
|---|---|---|
| Carolina Cares Initiative | Practical Essentials Kits for South Carolinians facing hardship, instability, or immediate resource gaps. | $5,000 launch campaign; separate $30,000 twelve-month program plan. |
| Poston Preserve Initiative | Public history and place-based community development, beginning with Restore Poston in Florence County. | $25,000 proposed Phase One launch budget, with work paced to available resources. |
The plans describe intended activity. Funding targets, estimated unit costs, and proposed outputs should not be read as funds received, distributions completed, or projects already authorized.
How the work connects
Community knowledge makes practical assistance more useful.
Respond to present-day need
Carolina Cares focuses on the everyday items that can be difficult to obtain during hardship: hygiene products, clean socks, basic first-aid supplies, food, water, and seasonal essentials. Contents and distribution arrangements depend on actual needs and resources.
Poston Preserve also includes appropriate direct assistance within its local community-development scope. Those activities must be documented within the relevant project rather than counted twice across programs.
Build a record for future action
For Carolina Cares, the record includes purchases, inventory where practical, kit preparation, and distributions. For Poston Preserve, it includes historical sources, outreach, needs assessment, project permissions, expenditures, and progress against the proposed roadmap.
That information helps the Foundation assess what can be repeated, where support is still needed, and which future commitments are realistic.
The Foundation welcomes local knowledge alongside financial support. Businesses and civic groups may offer useful products or logistics. Community organizations may help identify suitable distribution settings. Residents and families connected to Poston may share historical materials or help clarify local priorities. Proposed relationships remain subject to discussion; a listed opportunity does not imply an existing partnership.
A focused initiative is easier to fund, operate, document, and explain.”
— The Poston Foundation