MARIES COUNTY — Vichy Solar donated $7,500 to the Vienna Fire Protection District and the Sleep in Heavenly Peace Rolla chapter in the first quarter of 2026, according to a May 5 press release.

The money from the project’s Community Giving Program is for supplying essential needs for the community. Organizations that serve the Maries County community can apply for a grant each quarter.

Vichy Solar is a project run by Vesper Energy, which is a renewable energy company that focuses on solar panels and battery energy storage. The Vichy Solar project will generate energy for the MISO power grid that covers from Minnesota to Louisiana. The project’s area is about 2,500 acres, and about one-third of that will be solar panels.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace, which received $5,000, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving beds to children who don’t have one. The Rolla chapter has delivered over 1,000 beds since 2019, and the money provided by Vichy Solar will help them provide over 300 beds across the six counties the chapter covers.

The Vienna Fire Protection District, which received $2,500, is the fire department covering the Vienna area. The district is using the money from Vichy Solar to purchase personal protection equipment (PPE), such as high-visibility jackets. The purpose is to increase safety on the road or in emergency helicopter landings to avoid injuries to workers, especially in low visibility or at night.

Peter Stockus, senior campaign manager at Vesper Energy, believes that these donations are important to being a good neighbor. He said that since 2023, the company has donated $80,000 to organizations within Maries County. And the company plans to keep donating, like partnering with Brewer Science to provide supplies for the Vichy Volunteer Fire Department’s fundraiser lunches.

“Personally, I think it is something you should be doing if you are a developer, like it is an active opportunity to sit down with the community,” he said. “Every community has kind of different opportunities that they want to see, different things that they want to see improved in their community.”