A rainy summer day on Sanibel couldn’t stop business owners, community leaders and islanders from gathering for a sweet celebration. Comcast joined forces with a local favorite to offer free delicious frozen custard to anyone in attendance. The sweet treat is just one way Florida’s technology leader is marking a major milestone. The company’s state-of-the-art network is now more resilient, robust, and secure thanks to a game-changing project, designed to strengthen Internet access on to the barrier island.
Get a first-hand look at the sweet celebration. 👇
Chuck Whitman opened The Shack of Sanibel on Periwinkle Way in 2021. Whitman’s story is one of resilience. His business survived the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ian in 2022. As the community remembers it, Whitman was one of the first places to reopen after the storm to help feed people. Whitman loved partnering with Comcast Business for the recent event. He said events like this one help the island recover.
“After Ian, the island was devastated,” Whitman said. “We could not have run our business without Comcast.”
Sanibel Mayor Richard Johnson also joined Comcast for the celebration and a surprise. He praised the company for its action after Hurricane Ian.
“Having Comcast step in right away, providing hotspots, providing connectivity and getting those resources back online was critically important,” Johnson said.
Johnson helped Justin Damiano, Comcast’s Director of Government Affairs in Southwest Florida, present $5,000 and 20 laptops to FISH of SANCAP.
FISH of SANCAP launched over 40 years ago from the kitchens and vehicles of island residents, who wanted to make their Sanibel-Captiva community a better place to live, work and visit. Today, their goal is to continue offering services that assist, educate and enrich their neighbors’ lives.
Maria Espinoza is the Executive Director of FISH of SANCAP. She shared what she is most excited to do with these new resources.
“A lot of Islanders we know lost so much after the storm. They’re trying to replace their drywall and rebuild their kitchens’” Espinoza said. “They need this technology to help them return to day-to-day operations.”
Comcast and its employees are actively involved in the local communities they serve. Since 2010, the tech leader has made over $17 million in cash and in-kind contributions to nonprofits in Southwest Florida.
