Sally Caldwell, Communications Coordinator

January 8, 2016

ABBEVILLE— The Freshwater Coast Community Foundation (FCCF) is proud to have funded the internships of multiple college students, from English majors to agriculture and business majors. The goal of the these internships is not only to further the work that the FCCF is accomplishing, but also to personally teach and lead by example the next generation of entrepreneurs, business men and women, and, ultimately, community.

Destin Nichols, a senior accounting major at Erskine College, worked closely with the FCCF throughout last fall in an internship specifically for accounting majors. Destin went to many business meetings and gained hands-on experience about how to approach the business world. Destin said, “When I applied for this internship, I had no idea it would teach me so much about business, communication, and how to make dreams a reality.”

Destin worked under Will Ferreira, the Community Coordinator for the FCCF, and positively impacted the program with his fresh accounting skills and mind for business. Each intern for the FCCF brought different skillsets that have furthered the FCCF’s cause of improving the communities that surround it.  Part of Destin’s work included designing a new Excel program for Wes McAllister, owner of McAllister’s Sons, that will simplify inventory control. Wes McAllister said, “[Destin] took a very objective point of view at helping deal with the beginning of business software for me and my businesses, and helped with developing some real-world information that I could gather about the furniture business.”

Not only has Destin designed this new Excel program, he has also provided internal financial management advice for Penny Richie, owner of Talk of the Town Catering and Eatery, as well as creating an online community survey for Heather McNally, director of the McCormick Arts Council at the Keturah (MACK). The survey provided the MACK with valuable information about how to improve the MACK and the community.

As Wes McAllister said, “[The FCCF] has benefitted the communities, the WcTel purpose areas, and it’s been great for those communities that are needing some advice and touching that will make their businesses and ideas fresh and objective.”

Destin will be able to take the knowledge he has learned and take it with him into his career and future. Concerning the internship, Destin said, “I learned more than I ever thought I would know about Excel; I learned how to conduct business meetings; I learned how to be a leader among peers by watching Will Ferreira; I learned how to initiate projects; I learned how to make things happen.” That is what the Freshwater Coast Community Foundation is about.

Destin Nichols teaching a business finance workshop at Piedmont Tech in Abbeville, South Carolina.