In a big step forward, a contract to purchase the Old Wool Store in Hanson Street Kingston SE has been executed by the newly established Kingston Community Foundation.


The property will be leased to a restauranteur to reopen the restaurant which has been closed for six years and has sadly been missed by the community.


On April 11 the new community group, which has been in preparation since April last year, will formally launch the Kingston Community Foundation in the Old Wool Store premises.


The launch will be officially conducted by Regional Development Australia Limestone Coast chair Robyn Verrall and Foundation chair Katherine McBride.


The Kingston Community Foundation Board members will be introduced to the community at the launch.


The foundation has three local beneficiaries – Kingston Soldiers Memorial Hospital, Kingston Community School, and the Kingston SE Branch of the National Trust of South Australia.


It is a not-for-profit, non-taxable foundation and is a registered Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) charity, meaning donors will receive a tax deduction for all donations made. A similar foundation was established in Bordertown in 2009 and regularly distributes up to $50,000 annually to the Bordertown Memorial Hospital.


A co-founder of the foundation former accountant Des Murray said the arrangement meant funds raised in the community, stayed in the community, under the management of a local volunteer board of directors.