Share about a public outreach project you were involved in that you felt was successful.
August’s topic is, “Share about a public outreach project you were involved in that you felt was successful. If applicable, how did this project allow you to engage with underserved communities?”
As always, you can also write about Al‑Anon’s three Legacies. This month features Step Eight, Tradition Eight, and Concept Eight.
Sharings on the Member Blog may be used in future Al‑Anon publications.
New topics are being added each month!
Two Districts went together and shared a booth at the largest agricultural Fair east of the Mississippi. There were over 10,000 people who attended the Fair during the week. Our booth was the first booth inside the door of the HomeShow building. The literature was spread out on the table for people to see and take, with posters and banners visible from all angles. We had members at the booth occasionally during the week, but mostly the information was available to read or take 24 hours a day for the entire week. It was a very positive experience having over… Read more »
When I came into Al-Anon, I wanted to support my home group in some way. I had read our book When I Got Busy, I Got Better. In this book, it said, under Tradition Eight, “I don’t need special training, just a willingness to carry the message.” My husband, a sober alcoholic of many years, used to go to treatment centers, and he would ask me to come with him on Family Day to share from the Al-Anon point of view. I was speaking to alcoholics, but it opened their eyes to how their drinking affected others. I would always… Read more »
Many years ago my home group decided to do our first public outreach program. There were about 8-10 members of this group that met on a Saturday morning. Practicing “First Things First” we went to a local diner and ordered breakfast and discussed our mission. We knew we needed to be energized both by fellowship and food to carry out our mission. Our mission was to educate the public about Al-Anon by posting on community bulletin boards of police departments, libraries, retail stores, restaurants etc. Al-Anon flyers and leaving other appropriate Al-Anon pamphlets, and District meeting list. We were prepared… Read more »
For my 1st Public Outreach commitment, I went to an area middle school where I shared my experience in Al-Anon. I was told to keep it short and concentrate on what our program is about, and how I use it every day. I was surprised that so few had heard of Al-Anon while AA was immediately recognized. We instructed the students to write down questions on paper we provided, even if they thought they were silly. Some of the questions were heart-breaking, others quite insightful. I felt that my story reached a few of the students as their questions were… Read more »
This June D4 PO team gathered 43 names of mental healthcare professionals in D4. Then we all met at Open Door Tea in Stratford and mailed out Professional Packets from LDC along with some other Alateen and Al-Anon literature. I wrote a generic letter explaining we wanted to get literature out to them should any of their clients could use the information. It was great to have several people helping with collecting the names and then mailing out the literature. Last year, I collected the names of middle and high schools in D4 and mailed out Alateen literature with another… Read more »
I am the Outreach Coordinator for our District. We decided to purchase an editable QR code and attach it to our Google Docs drive linked to our meeting list, since we don’t have a District website. We’ve had almost 300 scans on it in less than two years, and people from all over the U.S. and as far away as Finland and Mexico City have scanned our District meeting list! We’ve put it on homemade bookmarks, we’ve put it on the free outreach bookmarks from the WSO, and we’ve put it on business cards with the serenity prayer on them… Read more »
I did a lot of Public Outreach over the years and each experience brought me some recovery and a better understanding of Step Twelve that brings up the importance of carrying the message of hope to those who are still suffering from the consequences of this insidious disease. The experience of Public Outreach that brought me great satisfaction was bringing the message of hope in a Rehabilitation Center for Alcoholics and drug addicts. For over 6 years I went every month to talk to the residents (men and women) about the family disease of alcoholism and its effects it has… Read more »
I was recently involved with a Public Outreach project of placing two How Al-anon Works books in each public library in our Area. One English & one Spanish. We contacted the libraries within our District and asked approval to get these into their circulation. Some libraries already had one and some libraries refused. In contacting libraries, I had several librarians who knew what Al-Anon was and were quite happy for us to send them. In delivering books, my favorites were the small town library. The service member that was with me took a picture of me going into these libraries… Read more »
Ensuring our Area had a website for anyone to find accurate meeting information was important, especially through the chaos of the pandemic and lots of changes. I am grateful to the members who asked for help; those that helped to make that possible and ensure this important public information tool was updated, ensuring we were being welcoming to newcomers was important, and linking to updated Al-Anon public information resources was wonderful. Thank you to all who make that possible and the ability to electronically within hours update group meeting information. My home group learned more about our Group responsibility and… Read more »