Remember, when anyone, anywhere reaches out for help, I want the "Hand of AA" always to be there - for that....I AM RESPONSIBLE.

Being involved in Service Work doesn't have to involve a lot of your time. Even once a month, exchanging a few hours of watching TV for a few hours of helping another person can have a huge impact on other people trying to get & stay sober AND can have a surprising positive impact on you as well.

Some of the ways you can help include:

Local Meeting Volunteer - there are a number of ways an AA member
can help out with a local AA meeting. Showing up early to help make coffee
and/or staying after a meeting to help clean up is an easy way help out.
There are usually other opportunities to help out such as getting Speakers for
Speaker Meetings and leading meetings.

Correctional Facilities - There are thousands & thousands of fellow
Alcoholics who are in jails & prisons in the United States. For many of them,
their drinking was directly connected to their crimes. You can help by:

• Volunteering to attend a meeting "inside". Fill out a Correctional Volunteer
  Application, and once approved, you can attend meetings
  that are held in our local correctional facilities.
• With their permission, provide local correctional facilities with much needed
  AA materials such as AA Speaker Cassette Tapes,
  "Big Books" and other AA approved literature.
• Correspond with an AA inmate through the Corrections Correspondence Service.
• Volunteer to make sure a newly released inmate gets to a local AA meeting
  the same day he or she is released.
• Volunteer to serve on the Correctional Facilities Committee. The CFC helps
  serve as a liaison between the local AA Groups and the local correctional facilities.

AA Representatives -GSR (General Service Representative) - represent your "Home Group" at the Local District level as a GSR. This elected position attends District Meetings that are made up of the AA groups in a particular District. DCM (District Committee Member) - The DCM, elected by the District GSR's, carries the collective group conscience of the AA groups in a District to the Area Committee. The DCM is the vital link between the local AA District and AA at-large (Regional, State, National & International levels).

Hospitals & Institutions - there are many ways to help those inside mental hospitals, treatment centers and other institutions. Contact your local AA office for more information.

*NOTE: Certain Volunteer positions require a minimum length of sobriety and/or prior Service Work experience. Please check with your local AA group or Volunteer Coordinator for details.

We'll be adding more information over time to this new section of our website so please check back here from time to time.

Why is AA volunteer work called "12th Step Work?"
THE 12th STEP:
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics
and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Maybe if we replaced the word "work" with "opportunities", more people would get involved? Service work can be tremendously fulfilling...just ask someone who takes advantage of it!

Look how many times the word "we" is used in AA. It's used over and over again because it is what it is...a fellowship of recovering alcoholics working together to help another person suffering from the disease of alcohol addiction.

There are many, many ways that you can get involved to "help back what was so freely given to you. The next time you're at an AA meeting or the next time you call your local AA office, ask "how may I be of assistance?" Please consider sharing share your Experience, Strength & Hope.

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