Santa Barbara-based Montecito Bank & Trust handed out $20,000 in grants to 10 of the region’s nonprofits to celebrate the bank’s 41st anniversary.

For the past 24 years, the largest financial institution headquartered in Santa Barbara County has offered financial aid to nonprofits handpicked by its staff.

MB&T held its annual celebration on March 17 at its downtown Santa Barbara branch that included video clips describing each nonprofit’s outreach and mission.

This year’s awarded nonprofits include Angels Foster Care of Santa Barbara, Atterdag Village of Solvang Auxiliary, C.A.R.E4Paws, Child Abuse Listening Mediation, Dons Net Café, Easy Lift Transportation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation – Central Coast Council, Old Yeller Ranch Rescue, Return to Freedom and Santa Barbara Choral Society.

“Montecito Bank & Trust has made this community a better place through its giving and community involvement,” MB&T board member Jerry Parent told the Business Times at the event.

MB&T Chairman Michael Towbes of the Towbes Group created the Anniversary Grants program in 1993 to involve the bank’s associates in its corporate giving.

“Since our beginning, on March 17, 1975, giving back to our community has been one of our most important corporate values,” MB&T President and CEO Janet Garufis said in a news release. “What better way to celebrate MB&T’s 41 years of success in serving the banking needs of our communities than by inviting our associates to nominate and select the community organizations that will be recognized.”

MB&T’s 220 employees donated more than 2,000 volunteer hours to nonprofits last year, she added.

The bank recently opened a Camarillo branch at 770 Paseo Camarillo, adding to its locations in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Solvang, Montecito, Carpinteria, Ventura, Camarillo and Westlake Village. It launched its residential mortgage program in March, offering fixed- and adjustable-rate loans up to $5 million for potential home buyers.
MB&T reported net income of $15.9 million for 2015, up from $13.1 million in 2014.

Total gross loans grew 17 percent year-over-year, totaling $711 million on Dec. 31. Total assets were up $53 million in 2015 to $1.2 billion. Total deposits increased 4.5 percent to $1.1 billion, up $48 million.

• Contact Alex Kacik at akacik@pacbiztimes.com.