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Tania Crosby: Longtime Volunteer

There’s an old military truism: never volunteer. That would not do for Tania Crosby. For 25 years, as an accountant, she has been doing the books as treasurer of the Deep River Ambulance Association, spending much of that time as an unpaid volunteer.

In fact, Tania confesses to something that the numbers-averse will have trouble imagining.

“Accounting is fun,” she says.

Founded in 1957, the Deep River Ambulance Association provides volunteer emergency medical services to the Deep River community.

Members of the Ambulance Association are now paid $70 for each call they go on. The money comes from the payment that the association receives from insurers, often Medicare, for the service.

The organization, however, aids local residents regardless of whether or not they can pay for its service.

Tania points out that Deep River Ambulance is not underwritten by the town budget, although its workers are covered by the town’s workers’ compensation.

“People think it is like the fire department, covered by the town, but we are a separate organization,” Tania says, noting that residents can and do make contributions to the group.

Tania handles all the payroll, does the monthly finances, and makes sure the association is compliant with all government rules and regulations.

“There are a lot and they are always changing,” she says. “It’s just like running a little business.”

For just the last several years, Tania has been paid a small stipend for her accounting work.

“It has just gotten so much more complicated,” she explains.

According to Ambulance Association Chief of Service Jen Kollmer, the association has made more than 500 calls with some 25 active crew members so far during this fiscal year, which ends in March.

All the crew members have successfully completed training as either an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR). Kollmer says the difference between the two positions is the amount of training hours, which are extensive for both. She adds there must be an EMT present at every emergency response.

Volunteers needing training are reimbursed for the costs of the classes when they become members of the Ambulance Association. The problem with the training, Kollmer says, was the growing difficulty in finding a training class. The number of such programs has decreased, she adds.

The ambulance crew always has to be ready for the unpredictable. Recently, an expectant mother being transported to the hospital by Deep River Ambulance didn’t get there in time, and her child was delivered in the vehicle. On another recent occasion, the crew thought the baby would be born in the ambulance, but the mother-to-be made it to the hospital in time.

In addition to her work for the Deep River Ambulance Association, Tania is also the treasurer of the Deep River Land Trust.

“Everybody likes an accountant on the board,” she says.

However, Tania never started out to be an accountant. She majored in political science at the University of Connecticut. Tania’s first job involved data and numbers, and she found that she like working with them.

And, she adds, “I was no good at sales.”

For the last 15 years, Tania she has worked as a Certified Public Accountant at the Creehan Group in Centerbrook.

Tania is not simply a Deep River resident. She is a Deep River native and has lived in the community all her life.

“Deep River is a great small town. You can walk around here. Lots to do on Main Street,” Tania says. “If people want to go shopping, they come to Deep River.”

Tania’s mother, Nancy Mazzoni, retired as an art teacher from Valley Regional High School. Her sister, Luisa Wilson, is the music teacher at Essex Elementary School.

When she is not working, Tania likes hiking with her husband Kevin, mostly along the Connecticut River. The couple has a small boat they use in the summer. She is also a baker, mostly of sweet breads.

“They are not as labor intensive as cookies,” she says.

As her children have grown up over the years, Tania has volunteered for the Girl Scouts, sports booster clubs, and activities like Valley Safe Graduation. Her daughter Alena is now a junior at Fordham University, and her son Zachary is a recent college graduate.

Tania sees volunteering as a way to cope with an issue that has seen increased publicity since U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy identified loneliness and social isolation as a serious public health problem.

“People are lonely, but there are people out there—lots of people,” Tania says. “If people only volunteered for one thing, it helps the town, it helps the tax base, it helps the community.”

After spending more than two decades in her role, Tania has no plans to stop doing the books for the Deep River Ambulance Association.

“We live here. Everyone has a skill. Everyone could pick something,” she says. “Volunteering is so impactful.”

To make a contribution to the Deep River Ambulance Association, send to: Deep River Ambulance Association, PO Box 274, Deep River, CT 06417.

To inquire about joining the group, call 860-526-6043.