An Open Letter to the Sober Community of Santa Fe
The Covid19 crisis has hit all of us hard – especially those of us in the AA sober community. Not being able to attend our regular meetings, have coffee or dinner with sober brothers and sisters, doing step work on-line, has indeed made this a trying time.
While ZOOM meetings have become the norm for many of us, and help to keep us sober, there are other areas of AA that are in dire need of your help. Our Seventh Tradition States:
Every AA Group ought to be fully self-supporting
declining outside contributions
Many people believe that because we are attending Zoom meetings there is no cost involved. This is simply not the case.
In normal times, at regular meetings, we pass the basket to help defray the costs of meeting expenses like coffee, donuts, literature and chips. Please remember that the Seventh Tradition is essential at every level of A.A. service most groups take any extra funds they collect and send them to Central Office, District Office and National Office among others. These donations are vital as they are the only way we are able to pay rent, purchase literature and keep the phones and websites operational so that those looking for recovery, or another alcoholic, can find them.
Unfortunately it has to easy for many of us to “forget” about the 7th Tradition. It’s no longer as easy to throw a dollar or two into the basket. Because of this, the AA National Office has had to draw down $3 million from its prudent reserve to keep the office operational. The Santa Fe Central Office has also felt the impact. As things stand, your Central Office has enough cash in its prudent reserve to keep things operational for approximately six more months. If we do not continue to receive donations from our members, we will be faced with the difficult decision of potentially closing the office.
Our Seventh Tradition is essential at every level of A.A. service
It is both a privilege and a responsibility for groups and members to ensure that not only their group, but also their intergroup/central office, local services, district, area, and the General Service Office
remain self-supporting, keeping A.A. free of outside influences
The Central Office of Santa Fe has made it easy to contribute. You can either send a check to:
AA Central Office of Santa Fe
PO Box 6456
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Or you can use your smart phone – point your camera at one of these QR Codes and it will take you directly to our Paypal or Venmo site where you can make a donation with your credit or debit card.
As Bill Wilson told us:
“Every A.A. member wants every alcoholic in the world to have the chance that he has had. Every A.A. member wants unity for our movement. Every A.A. member wants the good opinion of medicine, religion and the general public. We know we must have these things or the new man may never get his chance.”
“The Intergroup associations are the best insurance we can have that our life lines to the hundreds of thousands yet to come will never break or tangle. Let us always be generous. Let us warmly support Intergroup.”
A.A co-founder Bill W., 1949