Restaurant Neighbor Award 2008 Finalist
Florida

Stillwell Enterprises
Captiva Island, FL

Cornerstone Humanitarian Nominee: Sandy Stilwell

Sandy Stilwell grew up in the hospitality industry, beginning as a 12-year-old dishwasher in her uncle’s restaurant, then taking care of housekeeping at her parents’ motel and at age 21 becoming a motel owner. Stilwell has taken that work ethic and poured it into another great passion: philanthropy. The owner of six restaurants and three other businesses in Captiva Island, Fla., Stillwell recently chaired the Lee Heart Ball, which raised $335,000 to support the American Heart Association. In 2007, she served as Heart Ball chairman, helping raise $525,000. Last fall, Stillwell was the honorary chairman of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge Federal Duck Stamp event, helping raise $75,000 for the refuge. She has served as president of the Lee County Salvation Army and on the boards of the Horizon Council, the Uncommon Friends Foundation, Hodges University Presidents Council and the American Heart Association Community Council, to name a few. In 2007, Stilwell was named Gulfshore Life magazine’s “Woman of the Year” and received the first Apex Award for Women in Business in Lee County.

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