First responders stick together: Fire department hosts ambulance station fundraiser

Sept. 24, 2022  |  By Waterbury Roundabout

Waterbury Fire Department will host a fundraising dinner on Oct. 14 at its Main Street fire station to support Waterbury Ambulance Service's Station Creation project. File photo by Gordon Miller

As Waterbury Ambulance Service nears its $3 million goal to pay for building a new ambulance station, the Waterbury Fire Department is getting involved by hosting a fundraiser for its fellow first responders. 

On Oct. 14, the fire department will host a Calcutta-style event for the Waterbury Ambulance Station Creation Project. Only 100 tickets priced at $100 each are available and organizers say they are selling quickly. Each ticket includes a chicken pie dinner for two and a chance to win a $2,000 grand prize. The event will be held at the Main Street fire station. 

Purchase tickets from any Waterbury firefighter or contact Ambulance service Operations Administrator Maggie Burke at maggie.burke@waterburyambulance.org. 

In announcing the fundraiser, Waterbury Fire Battalion Chief Sally Dillon noted that Waterbury Ambulance has served the community for more than 50 years. “With the arrival of COVID, they have taken that service to a whole new level,” she said, pointing out that ambulance staff since the start of the pandemic have administered more than 150,000 tests and more than 55,000 vaccines.

Of the $10,000 the fundraiser aims to collect, $3,000 will go to prizes and the remainder to the ambulance service, Dillon said. Other costs for putting on the event will be paid from the fire department association, she said. 

The ambulance service is based at 1727 Guptil Road in Waterbury Center near the Waterbury Highway Department garage. The nonprofit agency has outgrown its facility and has plans to build a new station on a site along Vermont Route 100 just north of the Guptil Road intersection in 2023. It will share the location with new medical offices from Copley Hospital. 

More information about the project is online at waterburyambulance.org/station-creation.