“A gift fell from the sky”: a village in Puy-de-Dôme receives a legacy of 732,000 euros

The small town of Saint-Bonnet-Énée-Riom, nestled north of Clermont-Ferrand in Puy-de-Dôme, received an unexpected donation of 732,000 euros, bequeathed by a former resident, Jeanne-Marie Giorgi, who died in May 2024. This legacies, described as “gift fell from the sky” by the mayor Denis Rougeyron, will make it possible to finance several ambitious municipal projects, according to the newspaper La Montagne.

Jeanne-Marie Giorgi and her husband Jacques, a former lieutenant-colonel of the army, had decided in 2018 to bequeath their heritage and their life insurance to the town, having no children or close family. The couple, very attached to Saint-Bonnet-Apresses-Riom, wanted to contribute to the improvement of local life.

New weddings, solar panels …

Thanks to this donation, several projects will see the light of day, such as the renovation of the old slaughterhouse which will be transformed into an intergenerational room, the expansion of the town hall with the creation of a new room for municipal councils and weddings, as well as that the installation of solar panels on various municipal buildings.

As for the commune church, the upper slab of which is strongly damaged, it will benefit from urgent work. As good news never arrives alone, the Michelin Foundation has also chosen to donate 8,000 euros to restore the Calvary of the Church in poor condition.