Self Support Area 83 - I am responsible..........: February 2008

Monday, February 18, 2008

Self Support Letter - February

Dear Self Support Chairs/Alternate DCM’s, I have updated our Blog with some information for February. This month I decided to share with you some of what is happening in other Districts.

This morning I had a great conversation with a District Self Support Chair, we agreed that education is the key to our 7^th Tradition; we must get the message out there especially to the newcomer. Sometimes to patiently inform our membership that a Loonie doesn’t go as far as it did 20 years ago.

One of the first things I do when I go to a different group is check out their bulletin board, I look for service flyers, self support flyers and information on our Area 83. I am always surprised at the lack of information that is current. As a self support chair you could carry materials whenever you go to a new/different group and if they don’t have flyers and Self Support brochures find out who the GSR is and leave the information behind. This is a great way of getting the information out to groups that do not attend District meetings. In my opinion these groups cut themselves off from the “branch” of A.A.

Check out the Blog for a picture submitted by Gari V. of some well designed

Keep sending me information on what you are doing so I can post it to the Blog, sharing our experience is huge part of our fellowship.

Also a reminder that the Assembly is coming up, Sunday at the Assembly, there are 2 motions under old business that deal with money, it is important to know this and to ensure that your Districts are aware of these motions.

Saturday our committee has a workshop in the afternoon, I have asked several Self Support chairs to participate in a skit called The Story of Self Support; it is fictional, with a strong self support message throughout it.

Book early: for the Ambassador Hotel as it does fill up some years. The Ambassador Conference Resort, 1550 Princess Street, Kingston, ON, Canada, K7M 9E3, 613-548-3605, 1-800-267-7880

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything or wish me to participate in your service days and workshops.

In Love and Service,

Sheree N.
Area 83 Self Support Chairperson

February Self Support Tip/Information

Submitted by Gari - District Committe Member -District 42

The idea of Self-Support Cans was sent out to the groups and this month the District voted that it would not be using them (all votes except one abstention were against the use). The groups felt that if the District needed financial assistance for anything, they just needed to let the groups know and the money would be forthcoming. Background with this District is that the groups have NOT been supporting the District. Now, with an active Self-Support Chair, many discussions at the district level and the info going back to the groups... we may actually be able to develop a prudent reserve!!!

My past experience with these cans (in Arizona) was very good. Another gal and I put together the cans and took responsibility for distribution of cans and collection of money. Virtually every group was willing to at the least, set them out in the meeting room... some groups even announced them or passed them around at the meeting after their 7th Tradition. I am including pictures for you in case they may be of use to someone else.

In Service & Lovin' It!

Gari

DCM D42

Miles C – Self Support Chair -District 30

Miles reports that the 4^th tradition has tripled in his group over the last year; as a result of this they have been able to send more money to District and over $700.00 to The General Service office. I asked Miles what he believed caused this huge increase and he said that he thought it was a combination of things, including reading the new green Self Support Card, as well as informing the group about inflation and their responsibility.

12 Concepts of World Service (Short Form)

I. Final Responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole fellowship.
II. The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective conscience of our whole society in its world affairs.
III. To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A. – the conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives – with a traditional “Right of Decision”.
IV. At all reasonable levels, we ought to maintain traditional “Right of Participation”, allowing a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.
V. Throughout our structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be heard and personal grievances receive careful consideration.
VI. The Conference recognizes that the chief initiative and active responsibility in most world service matters should be exercised by the trustee members of the Conference acting as the General Service Board.
VII. The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.
VIII. The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities.
IX. Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world service leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed by the trustees.
X. Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority, with the scope of such authority well defined.
XI. The trustees should always have the best possible committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs, and consultants. Composition, qualifications, induction procedures, and rights and duties will always be matters of serious concern.
XII. The Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote, and, whenever possible , by substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government, and that, like the society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action.

Thanks to the contributions of groups such as yours in 2006 General Service Office was able to ..

G.S.O.'s Records Department continues to be able to keep track of all those group trusted servants you tell us about, and to send them literature and materials that may be useful in their Twelfth Step service. This includes G.S.R. kits, D.C.M. Kits, Box 4-5-9 and other materials that show up in group mailboxes.
A. A. members who may be: working on a seagoing vessel for long periods; living in remote areas with no A.A. meetings; or confined to their homes by serious illness or physical incapacity are able to stay sober through correspondence and a bimonthly bulletin sent from the General Service Office.
A television public service announcement (P.S.A.) featuring actors in brief scenes in which the still-suffering alcoholic may recognize himself or herself followed by information on how to contact A.A. if the person wishes, was made available for Public Information Committee service around the United States and Canada. Sometimes a bleary eyed drinker gets a message of hope through these PSA,s
A.A. Literature was translated into Arabic, Bengali, Bosnian, Croatian, Hindi, Kazakh, and Turkish, among other lanugages, enabling the hand of A.A. to reach across language barriers and carry the message of recovery.
Approx. 2175 inmates of jails, prisons and other correctional facilities will be able to be linked to outside A.A. members this year for corresondence that will help them stay in touch with a sober A.A. member. This service is percieved as such a life-saving one to inmates that the requests from male inmates continue to exceed the number of outside male volunteers. The corrections assignment at G.S.O. would be happy to hear from more volunteers.

Final General Service Conference Agenda Items (Dealing with Finance)

E. Discuss a request to incorporate shipping costs into literature pricing.
D. Discuss a request “to eliminate volume discounts on literature orders.”
C. Discuss a request to “Develop a communication plan for the purpose of increasing the level of group participation and self-support within the Conference structure.”
B. Consider two suggestions to add text regarding reimbursement for G.S.R. (general service representative) travel expenses from group funds to the pamphlet “Self-Support: Where Money and Spirituality Mix.”
A. Discuss a request to increase the maximum annual contribution (or a one time bequest) that the General Service Board can receive from an A.A. member from $2,000 to $3,000.

Self Support Area 83 - I am responsible..........

Monday, February 18, 2008

Self Support Letter - February

February Self Support Tip/Information

Self Support Cans

Blog Archive

Other Area 83 Blogs & Web Pages

Useful Links

12 Concepts of World Service (Short Form)

Thanks to the contributions of groups such as yours in 2006 General Service Office was able to ..

Final General Service Conference Agenda Items (Dealing with Finance)

About Me

Man on the Bed