A crew from Brent Cogan Electrical Services installs a solar light at Tuckahoe Park on Tuesday morning. Pictured are (from left) Scott Furio, Gerald McDermitt, Brent Cogan and Kris Digruilles (partially obscured). Mirror photo by William Kibler

After vandals this spring damaged a Tuckahoe Park memorial for people whose lives have been disrupted or lost due to substance use disorder, Marianne Sinisi planned to raise money for a solar security light.

A local businessman, whose company motto, “Lighting the way,” has made such fundraising unnecessary.

On Tuesday, a crew from Brent Cogan Electrical Services completed installation of a heavy-duty, solar-powered pole lamp at the monument — for free.

“I couldn’t believe he said he’d do it (at no charge),” said Sinisi, whose son Shawn died of a

heroin-fentanyl overdose in 2018 at age 26. “I’d like to acknowledge (it).”

Paying customers are often grateful for his company’s work. But the occasional free job is special, Cogan said.

“‘God’s gift to you is your talent,'” Cogan said, quoting Pastor Jim Kilmartin of the Center City Church, for which Cogan’s company has been doing work recently. “‘Your gift to the world is what you do with it.'”

Because his work in those special cases is pure gift, it makes him feel “awesome,” Cogan said.

And he supports Sinisi’s cause.

“It’s a tough world,” Cogan said. “I’m here to encourage positivity, kindness and compassion.”

Sinisi reached out to Cogan after hearing from two solar companies that there was too much shade near the monument to power a light.

It’s a shady park, but there’s significant clear space right above the monument, Cogan said.

The solar panel should be able to absorb enough energy each day to power the light, he said.

He hopes it’s enough to last all night, but even if it tails off late, most people out at that time are only going to work, he said.

When Cogan met Sinisi at the memorial for the first time, he knew he wasn’t going to charge her, he said.

When he sent her an estimate for the job, it was all zeroes.

She called him about it, confused.

When he explained that he would do it for free, she was speechless, he said.

Such interactions are “the best part of my career,” he said.

Cogan has no personal connection with damages from substance use disorder, but he’s giving to her cause to help pay back his debt to the community, which has supported him throughout his 23 years in business, he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.