Carolina Cares Initiative
Practical essentials for immediate resource gaps.
Carolina Cares prepares and distributes practical Essentials Kits and related direct aid as funding, supplies, partners, and operating capacity allow.
THEPOSTONFOUNDATION
Practical help. Local impact. Stronger communities.
The Poston Foundation strengthens South Carolina communities through practical direct aid, place-based community development, and the preservation of local history and identity.
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.
Your support helps purchase approved supplies, prepare Essentials Kits, coordinate local distribution, and keep the program ready for the next opportunity to serve.
Two Focused Initiatives
Two ways we are putting the mission to work.
Carolina Cares addresses immediate practical needs. Poston Preserve takes a longer view of place, history, and community. Keeping the work focused makes it easier to see what each initiative is for and where support goes.
The Poston Preserve Initiative
Preservation, public history, and community development.
Restore Poston begins a place-based effort to document, preserve, and strengthen historic Poston, South Carolina, while building the groundwork for future community support.
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.
No toiletries tonight.
Someone staying somewhere temporary may have no soap, toothpaste, deodorant, wipes, or other personal-care basics.
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. What has changed is the structure around it—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
Being ready matters before the next distribution begins.
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 starting from zero each time.
The goal is not one successful fundraiser. It is a Carolina Cares program that can prepare, document, replenish, and serve again as funding and operating capacity allow.
We are a small nonprofit rebuilding our capacity. We would rather show what has actually been done, explain what comes next, and grow at a pace we can support.
Trust & Transparency
You should be able to verify who we are.
The Poston Foundation is a South Carolina nonprofit corporation and IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity. We publish the identifiers, documents, program budgets, and reporting framework that donors and partners commonly need to verify the organization and understand how current work is structured.
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 communityFederal Registration
SAM.gov Registered Entity
Active federal assistance registration for The Poston Foundation.
UEI Y3THS74NACW6Current 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
We are rebuilding carefully, one program at a time.
The Poston Foundation is a South Carolina public charity founded in Columbia in 2020. Our mission is to strengthen South Carolina communities through practical direct aid, place-based community development, and the preservation of local history and identity.
Today, that mission is expressed through two focused initiatives: Carolina Cares, which responds to immediate practical needs, and The Poston Preserve Initiative, which begins with the long-term preservation and community development of historic Poston, South Carolina.
We are still building. We keep the scope narrow, document what we do, correct what needs to improve, and grow only as funding and operating capacity allow.
Founded2020
Based inColumbia, SC
Status501(c)(3)
Current programsCarolina Cares + Poston Preserve
Real History. Public Record.
See the work as it happened.
WACH coverage and the Foundation’s 2020 archive preserve the public record of the original Carolina Cares effort. The homepage shows only a small selection; the full history page retains additional field photographs and materials.
Homeless Man Receives Unexpected Surprise
Local news coverage documenting early Carolina Cares direct-aid work in Columbia during the COVID-19 period.
View the Media Record Explore the full 2020 archive ›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.