Mission & History

During its first year, the Club created an “All-Island Christmas Tree”, and planted

a Norfolk Island Pine across Periwinkle Way from the Sanibel Community House.

The lighting of this tree, with carols led by the Kiwanis Boys Choir and the arrival

of Santa Claus on the fire truck, were Island traditions until 1997.

That same year the Club launched the “Santa Run”, collecting gifts from Island

families for a live Santa to deliver to their homes on Christmas Eve. Prior to that,

the nearest Santa for kids to visit was at Edison Mall in Ft. Myers. The first year

of the Santa Run, 110 presents were delivered to 56 households, almost all of

whom were students at the Sanibel School. When the first “Santa suit” fell apart, Club founder Dick Muench used it for bird nesting material. After 50+ years, the

Santa Run remains one of the Club’s annual events to this day.

The Sanibel School has always been a primary beneficiary our Club’s service

work. An early Club member was Tommy Halgrim, long-time school principal,

who frequently called on the Club for support. In the Club’s first year, its

members teamed up to build a 20’ x 30’ open-air classroom at the school to

augment its indoor space. Also, when the Sanibel School was initially

constructed, it did not have air conditioning. The Kiwanis Club set about to

improve this situation by raising $9,000, and the school air conditioners were put

in place on September 13, 1975.

Baseball & Softball: The Kiwanis Club stepped up to sponsor the first Little

League baseball team on the Islands in 1974, the year after its founding, and

Island merchants soon followed with formation of a second team. The Club, led

by founding member Dick Muench, provided umpires, coaches, drivers and

helped to maintain the athletic fields and equipment … a support role that

continues to this day. The following year, 1975, Kiwanis members started a girl’s softball

team.

Athletic Fields: With the Club’s leadership pushing for better recreation

resources, Lee County and the City of Sanibel contributed construction funds to create the existing athletic fields by the Sanibel School, which opened in 1976.

Kiwanis volunteers then rebuilt the dugouts, built the bleacher covers, and

solicited merchants for funds to secure a batting machine. In 1977, Kiwanis built

the press box and snack bar building, and in 1982 we built the 20’ x 40’ pavilion

next to the fields.

Aquatic Facilities: In 1982 Kiwanis applied the proceeds from our Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser to help create the Sanibel Water Attack Team (SWAT) to create awareness of the need for an Olympic-size swimming pool at the Recreation Center. As a result of

this work, the community stepped up and the pool was built.

The Club began its programs to provide books to Island students in the late 1970’s. In recent years, Kiwanis has provided a World Atlas to each 4th grade student at the Sanibel School. 

Scholarships for local students have been a major concentration for the Club since its earliest days. In the past 20 years our work in this area has intensified, making academic support one of the Club's primary service program for area youth. With the creation of the Sanibel-Captiva Kiwanis Foundation, the Club's 501(c)(3) arm, we have been able to offer tax-deductible donation benefits to those who contribute to the Scholarship Fund.  

The SanCap Kiwanis Scholarship Program, created in 2007, is now in its 18th year. To date, the Program has provided over $600,000 in financial support to deserving local youth as they pursue their advanced education. Both one-year and multi-year scholarships are awarded. To be eligible, students must have a connection to the Sanibel or Captiva communities, which means they must be either residents or have parents who live or work on the Islands. Criteria for awarding scholarships include past academic performance, community service involvement, and financial means. Scoring of applicants is done by independent educators located off-Island and not affiliated with the Club. In recent years, the Scholarship Program has granted scholarship awards to 20+ local youth per year, attending a diverse group of colleges, universities and career training facilities.

As part of the fundraising for the School Air Conditioning project in 1975, the

Club took over an Island restaurant for the night and served up a Spaghetti

Dinner for local residents, with Club volunteers doing the cooking, serving and

cleanup. That event proved to be quite popular, so the Spaghetti Dinner was

brought back as an annual event in 1980 and has been an Island tradition ever

since (45 years).

To expand seating capacity, the annual Spaghetti Dinner was relocated to the

Sanibel Community House. Over time the original kitchen at the Community

House became too small to handle the cooking needs for the burgeoning dinner, so Club member Curt Reinhardt (who was part of the City’s Public Works Department)

came up with a brilliant solution:  creation of an outdoor traveling kitchen. He

knew that the City had taken over a large propane tank and cooking burners from

the Algiers steamboat when it was removed from Algiers Beach and dismantled.

He also knew the City had no use for that equipment, so the Club was able to

“requisition” them, along with an old boat trailer from member, and the Spaghetti

Dinner outdoor kitchen was born. That traveling kitchen was used to prepare

Spaghetti Dinners for the next four decades until it fell victim to Hurricane Ian.

Fortunately, the new kitchen at the renovated Community House has proven ample to provide an indoor solution to our cooking needs.

The Kiwanis Diner’s Delight 2 for 1 Coupon Book program began in 1977,

both as a Kiwanis fundraiser but also as a service to Island restaurants and other

eating establishments who needed a promotional push in the “off-season”

months. This popular program has been a hit with residents and tourists alike, and with the restaurant community it serves. It has also been a pillar of the Club's annual fundraising, making it a win/win/win.

In recent years, the Club developed another annual fundraising effort with its

King Of The Rock Invitational Golf Tournament, held in late Spring at The

Dunes Golf & Tennis Club. Kiwanis joins with other sponsor organizations to

welcome all local golfers for a day of fun in a great setting, and a competition that

tests their skills against their friends and neighbors to see who is the best on the

Islands.

The San-Cap Kiwanis Club has a long history of supporting local nonprofits and civic

projects that align with our mission of supporting the needs of Island youth.

This is done through Club funding grants, Member volunteer work, and

individual contributions by the Club membership. Each year, organizations are

asked to submit requests outlining their needs, and these applications are

judged according to the level of need and how they fit with Club mission and goals. The following is a partial list of those we have supported in the past:

• Golisano Children's Hospital
• Ronald McDonald House at Healthpark
• Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation
• F.I.S.H. of San-Cap
• Community Housing & Resources (CHR)
• Friends Who Care
• Sanibel Community Association
• Clinic For The Rehabilitation Of Wildlife (CROW)
• City of Sanibel Scholarship Fund
• Sanibel Police Department
• Sanibel Shell Fair & Festival (Parking)
• Barrier Island Arts Group (BIG Arts)
• Sanibel School Fund
• Sanibel Public Library
• Special Equestrians
• Candlelighters of SW Florida
• Foundation for Lee County Public Schools
• Kiwanis/Fort Myers Science Fairs
• Computers For Kids
• Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
• Lee Health
• Arts In Healthcare
• SW Florida Symphony Orchestra
• Mini Golf at the Community House
• Abuse Counseling & Treatment
• Sanibel-Captiva Heart Walk
• Sanibel Sea School
• Boy, Girl and Cub Scouts
• Sam Bailey’s Islands Night
• Sanibel Chamber (Luminaries candle lighting)

Over the past 50+ years, the Club has held its weekly meetings at a variety of locations around the community … some gone and some still with us:

• Golden Sands
• Scotty’s Pub
• Beachview Golf Club
• Ramada/Holiday Inn
• Tarwinkle’s
• Jacaranda
• Realtors Association
• South Seas Plantation
• Casa Ybel
• Harbour House
• Coconut Grove
• Quarterdeck
• Hungry Heron
• Sundial
• Sanibel Community House
• The Dunes (past and present)