provided to The Santiva Chronicle
Sanibel Captiva Community Bank has donated $50,000 to the Children’s Education Center of the Islands to help cover the cost of rebuilding the school after major storm damage caused by Hurricane Ian.
“CECI has been an important part of the Sanibel community since 1974,” said Andrea Murphy, president of the CECI board of directors. “Since the storm, students have been scattered to different preschools. We are beyond ready to return the youngest islanders to their home school.”
Thompson Hall, one of two buildings on the campus, is undergoing renovations and will open in the fall with limited student capacity. The center’s other larger building will be razed to make way for a new structure built by Benchmark General Contractors, who have offered their services to rebuild at cost.
“Many of our employee’s children have attended CECI over the years,” said Kyle DeCicco, president and CEO of Sanibel Captiva Community Bank. “It’s a special place to us and many islanders. We’re so pleased to be able to help them rebuild and get back to educating our island kids.”
Children’s Education Center of the Islands is a non-profit preschool serving the children of Sanibel ages 18 months to 6 years old. The center incorporates the natural world and play to teach children foundational concepts using hands-on and child-led experiences. For more information, visit childrenseducationcenter.com.
Founded in 2003, and celebrating its 20th anniversary, Sanibel Captiva Community Bank has seven open locations throughout Lee County. A visual timeline of Sanibel Captiva Community Bank’s 20-year history is available at cheersto20years.sancapbank.com.
On Sanibel, the Main Office, located at 2406 Periwinkle Way, has experienced minimal storm damage and is scheduled to reopen in May. In the interim, the Main Office staff is working out of the branch boardroom Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Periwinkle Branch, located at 1019 Periwinkle Way, has sustained considerable storm damage and is projected to reopen in early 2024. In Fort Myers, the bank’s McGregor Branch, located at 15975 McGregor Blvd., staff is operating out of a temporary mobile banking unit due to major flood damage to the existing building.
The bank is nationally ranked in the top 2% best-performing community banks by S&P Global Market Intelligence out of more than 4,400 banks with assets under $1 billion. It is well-capitalized, with more than $729 million in total assets, and generates one of the highest returns on equity of all Florida banks. The bank employs more than 100 employees, and more than 60% are current shareholders.
Sanibel Captiva Community Bank’s team members provide customized individual and business banking services and specialize in residential and commercial lending. The bank offers free personal and business checking, deposit accounts with competitive interest rates, instant issue debit cards and a full array of digital banking products and services, including mobile banking apps, CardValet, online bill pay, Zelle®, Positive Pay and ACH Manager. To learn more, visit http://www.SanCapBank.com.
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