District 9 Minutes
7 August 2011
ATTENDANCE: DCM-Pat J. Alt. DCM-Mary Ann P.; Secretary; Nova T; Literature; Tim G, Archives- Mike.; Treatment-Donna.; CPC-Davi M.; Corrections- Terri B.; Grapevine- Cathy G.; Intergroup Liason-Kevin K.; PI-Lee C.
Groups Present: Bettendorf-Erica S.; Blandine-Ken A.; Central-Laura M.; Courage to Change-Clark J.; Dewitt-Phyllis E.; Marquette-Mary Beth P.; North Scott-Neil B.; Northwest-Fill in.
Secretary’s minutes were approved.
Treasurer’s Report: Beginning Balance-$5,997.96;Total Income-$1300.00; Total Expenses- $689.84; Operating Balance-$6,608.12; Ending Balance-$7,208.12
DCM: This past month most of my time has been spent with Forum activities. I'd like to remind everyone to get signed up online asap. It's easy to do and will help GSO with their planning activities. Again, please promote this in your groups. This is a great opportunity for us to share with others from our Region and GSO. There will not be another Forum in the State of Iowa for 16 years, let alone our District. Let's show them AA is alive and well in our District. I have reserved a room to be used for the Hospitality Room and will discuss that later in New Business. I will be going to Marshalltown next Sunday for an Area Committee meeting. GSRs and Chairs are not expected to attend but again, you are always welcome. Our Area 24 Fall Conference will be coming up soon. Mary Ann will be collecting registrations for our Chairs at the September meeting.
Alt DCM: There were 522 hits on the website aaquadcities.org for the month of July.
Grapevine: No report.
Archives: Archives does not have anything to report at this time
CPC: As of Aug. 5, 2011, our committee has sent out 54 emails to members of the clergy and has received one request for literature/meeting schedules, which will be delivered personally the Saturday before I leave the country. By the end of August, we will have sent all the emails in the Churches United Directory and while I am gone, the committee will move on to making phone calls, using the directory as a guide. We are also considering placing a small advertisement in the Churches United Newsletter, the basic "If you want to drink, that's your business; if you want to stop, that's ours," as on our business cards. This newsletter is distributed monthly to local churches and would be a third method for us to contact this particular group of professionals. My hope is that in approaching clergy members from three angles simultaneously, we increase their consciousness of A.A. service to the still suffering alcoholic. Once I have returned, if everything works out well, we'll move on to the next group of professionals after we've exhausted all contacts on our list. I also propose that my committee members alternate attending the monthly District meetings in my stead, until I return in January.
Literature: Delivered and set up new literature racks with assorted treatment literature packets to three treatment facilities located at: The Abbey in Bettendorf, CADS on East Locust and Davenport, CADS on South Fairmount Street in Davenport.
Treatment: We have a $17.33 credit with GSO for the order placed by Literature and Treatment. We can use this credit towards re-stocking of the pamphlets displayed in the Treatment Centers. The Literature Racks and Pamphlets came in and I have delivered them to our Literature Chair (Tim G) for delivery. He and I discussed that the BTG volunteers would be a good source for replenishing the Racks when needed. We received a “Farwell letter” from Gayle Solheim Riese, Treatment/Special Needs General Service Staff Member that she will be rotating from Treatment on July 11, 2011 and the new staff member will be Mary Dargan. She also informed us that at the May 2011 General Service Conference the Conference Committee recommended that the name be changed to the Committee on Treatment/Special Needs-Accessibilities and these changes be reflected in the committee’s Composition, Scope and Procedure. The committee also requested many changes to the title of the Committees in service material. She asked that we “please be patient as the name change gets made in a variety of pamphlets and service material as it all comes up for individual reprinting. As of June 1, the price on all service kits went up to $18.00 to more nearly reflect current costs. GSO will be providing a new sample of Temporary Contact Form, one for the AA volunteer and one for the Alcoholic requesting the temporary contact to help them connect to AA on the outside. I will be sending home contact sign up sheets with the GSRs today – we are in need of more help and I am still trying to update our current contact list.
Corrections: Thanks to all for voting me in as the new corrections chair. We’ve just completed another orientation down at the jail so I have new people that need to be worked into the schedule. I’ve been in contact with almost everyone currently involved in the jail meetings, either by phone or email, to find out their availability so I can revise the schedule. I have contacted by email the gentleman at area that Elle was working with on the corrections workshop, mainly to introduce myself and to find out just what this is all about. Before her move Elle handed out Corrections Bridging the Gap signup sheets to all the group GSR’s. This Bridging the Gap is for people being released from prison that need to find a meeting upon returning home. We have already begun to receive names of people being released this fall so please get your home group members to sign up as a contact. The process is this: Inmates contact Area 24 who assigns them out to the inmate’s release. Next, the AA member’s job it is to pick up the new AA member and get them to their first few meetings and introduce them to other AA members until they can do this on their own. The first few meetings is to be treated like a 12 step call so they should always take another member with them. We are not there to be a sponsor. Our only job is to introduce them to AA. Please get your sign up sheets back to me as soon as possible.
PI: Checking out prices for 50 AA schedules @ inner group for Abby display. Will set up PI display on Sept 10th @ Abby. Went to inner group and got PI guidelines.
Park and Mary Ann’s assignment tabled till next month – communication tool for the GSRs.
District 9 Hospitality Room for Forum was reserved and approved by district.