Public information events are excellent ways of informing the public about the Overeaters Anonymous (OA) program of recovery.
Types of public information events
Newcomer nights
These are usually open OA meetings whose formats may vary to meet the needs of a particular audience. They commonly feature speakers and a question and-answer period. OA literature is provided as handouts if possible. The focus is on people new to or interested in Overeaters Anonymous, whether potential members or not.
Young adult events
Colleges and universities are the usual settings for these events, whether as an intimate classroom talk or in an assembly. They commonly feature two or more speakers and follow a format similar to that of a newcomer night, above. Another way to reach young adults is to participate in a school health fair. Many intergroups/service boards have display booths that can be used for this purpose. For information about participating in a health fair, see the Guidelines for Health Fair Participation on oa.org.
Presentations to Employee Assistance Program (EAP) staff
EAPs are counseling centers that some large companies employ to help workers deal with personal problems in a confidential setting. Staff members and/or counselors are often quite receptive to learning how OA can help their clients.
Other types of Public Information (PI) events
There are many other settings for public information outreach. For more information about the above or other types of public information and professional outreach events, refer to the Public Information and Professional Outreach Service Manual.
When to hold public information events
Anytime is a good time!
Strategic times:
Before holidays
After New Year’s
Early spring
We also recommend holding events on OA related days:
OA’s birthday (third full weekend—Friday included—of January)
Unity Day (last Saturday of February in even years and last Sunday of February in odd years)
Sponsorship Day (third full weekend—Friday included—of August)
International Day Experiencing Abstinence (IDEA) (third full weekend—Friday included—of November)
Twelfth Step Within Day (December 12)
Preparation and planning
(about three to four months prior)
Form a committee and choose a chairperson.
Encourage participation within your intergroup by enumerating specific tasks and the time commitment needed to accomplish them.
Determine your budget. Keep in mind that the purpose of Public Information (PI) events is to get information out to the community, not to make money. Things such as suggested donations or raffles should be saved for retreats and conventions. If your intergroup does not have the funds to put on an event on its own, contact your region. Some regions will provide funding for PI events.
Select a site. If your event will be in a school or institution, make sure the arrangements are made with the proper authorities. The site should be easily accessible, with well-lit parking. Besides schools and hospitals, libraries and churches are usually good locations.
Decide on format. The format will determine your needs. You will need to consider:
How many will attend?
Will you have one or more speakers? A panel? (Microphones, a podium, table)
Will there be a question-and-answer session? (Paper, pencils)
What special interests does the audience have? (Specific literature, topics)
Inspect the site and ask questions. Tell the facility’s manager what you’ll need and find out what’s available. Questions to ask:
Are there any fees?
What about parking?
What is the maximum legal occupancy of the room?
Will someone from the facility be there the day or night of the event? If so, is there an additional fee, such as for janitorial staff to close the facility?
Materials
(about two to three months prior)
Order the literature and other materials (videos, etc.) you may need: We suggest that only OA Conference- and Board-approved literature be used. Be sure to bring along local meeting directories that clearly list phone numbers of meeting contacts, the oa.org website, and your intergroup’s website if you have one. Remember: The internet is one of our most important public information resources. Newcomers who do not approach you at the event may wish to find out more about OA after the event. You may wish to bring along wallet cards with your local intergroup’s number and website address.
Speakers should be chosen carefully; they’ll be representing the OA program and should demonstrate recovery on all three levels: emotional, spiritual, and physical. You may wish to have abstinence requirements. It is highly recommended that speakers have at least one year of current abstinence and are maintaining a healthy body weight. Look for members who have suffered from different symptoms of the disease.
Speaking to young adults
Two speakers are preferred, since two stories provide more diversity. Two people can also answer questions more effectively. Each should share for fifteen minutes. Speakers should be the same age or just slightly older than those in the audience. They should focus on their younger years, and share personal problems and health risks of compulsive eating.
Speaking to Employee Assistance Program professionals
In the spirit of cooperation, not affiliation, tell them how helpful OA can be for their clients who struggle with eating disorders to stress that we are not in competition with them, but an outside source of help.
Make these in time to be distributed four to six weeks prior to the event. They should contain the event title; the sponsoring intergroup’s name; event location, date, and time; and the contact phone number (no names). Flyers should make it clear that it’s an event for the general public and not just for OA members. Suggested distribution sites: public health clinics, student health centers, exercise clubs, Twelve-Step bookstores, doctor and professional offices (obtain permission first), and OA meetings. Provide plenty of extra flyers for OA meetings, and urge members to take a few and post them on bulletin boards at their grocery store, laundromat, church, school, etc.
Get the word out to the community
Contact radio and TV stations and ask them to run public service announcements. Tell them OA is a nonprofit organization. Make sure the Public Service Announcements (PSAs) include a local contact phone number. Also, local, regional, senior, school and free newspapers often have calendars of community events; send them announcements. (For sample PSA scripts and press releases, see the Public Information and Professional Outreach Service Manual; to arrange to use WSO PSAs, contact the World Service Office.) Consider free advertising on online local classified ad sites. These sites often have community events/meeting announcements sections. Even if they don’t, you can still create an ad inviting people to a public information meeting or to just make contact for more information about OA.
Inform the Fellowship
Announce the event at all OA meetings, telling members of the planned content. Ask them to attend and bring a non-OA guest. List tasks for which volunteers are needed and provide a contact name and number to call if interested in helping.
Final preparations
(about one month prior)
Get firm commitments from volunteers and assign duties.
Areas of service include:
Registration table
Literature
Cleanup
Door greeting
Making and distributing ID badges
Writing flyers
Distributing flyers
Decorating, if necessary
Making signs to direct participants to the right room
Call all volunteers and remind them of their commitments.
Checklist for one week prior to event
Call all volunteers again to verify their participation.
Make sure the facility is ready for you.
Give a flyer to the person answering the phone at the facility.
On the day
Arrive at least an hour before the event starts.
You will need to:
Set up the meeting room
Coordinate volunteers
Check the literature
Check the registration table
Check the refreshment tables
Follow-up
Have a post-event meeting: Evaluate what happened and make recommendations for the future.
Send thank-you notes to those outside OA who helped, such as radio, TV, and facility personnel.
Retrieve recorded Public Service Announcements (PSAs), if any, from TV and radio stations.
For more information on putting together public information or newcomers nights, consult the Public Information and Professional Outreach Service Manual (#765 in the OA bookstore at bookstore.oa.org).
OA Responsibility Pledge
Always to extend the hand and heart of OA to all who share my compulsion; for this I am responsible.
Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA Telephone: +1 505-891-2664
(Committed to Action for Recovery, Encouragement, and Support)
Correspondence Program Guidelines
The OA C.A.R.E.S. correspondence program was created to establish a network of support for compulsive eaters who are incarcerated. By describing how OA has affected your life, you can help deliver OA’s Twelve Step program of recovery directly to those in need. Thank you for volunteering to share the very essence of our program—one compulsive overeater reaching out to another.
These guidelines have been developed to help facilitate your correspondence by suggesting ways to adhere to OA Principles and comply with special requirements established by the participating institutions. Please adhere to these guidelines in all your correspondence.
Your letter should share your experience, strength, and hope about the problems associated with compulsive eating. When discussing your experience, remember to focus on the solutions you found by working the OA program. The hope of our program lies in the recovery we have found through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. The program can work no matter what our life circumstances.
Keep Your Focus on OA
You may be in other Twelve Step programs, but you have been selected as a volunteer for the OA C.A.R.E.S. program because you are a compulsive overeater. Keep it simple.
Participants will be assigned to individuals of the same sex. The inmate you are corresponding with may discuss issues seemingly unrelated to compulsive overeating, such as their convictions, legal matters, or medical problems. Keep in mind that we cannot solve these problems and should never give advice on any of these subjects. Your response should address these issues, if at all, only in the context of working our Twelve Step program.
The following are some useful suggestions for OA C.A.R.E.S. volunteers:
Remember
OA members in correctional facilities are compulsive eaters simply looking for the hope of recovery.
Use your sense of humor. Be lighthearted.
Be courteous. Respond to letters within two weeks.
Write legibly.
Be mindful of Traditions Six, Eight, and Twelve.*
Tell your story (what you were like, what happened, and what you are like now).
Relate your experience. Describe how you work through your problems thanks largely to the growth you have experienced in the OA Twelve Step program.
Keep the Following Cautions in Mind
You are embarking on a Twelfth Step relationship with a person whom you have not met, who may be unwell in several areas, and who may be using this relationship for motives unrelated to recovery. It is important that you be cautious and alert. We would like to hear from you about your experience so we can help others.
For your protection, all correspondence between the inmate and you will be handled by the Member Services Department at the OA World Service Office (WSO). The Member Services Department will not personally identify you to the inmate. You will write to the inmate and mail the letter to the WSO. Letters should be signed only with your initials. Do not reveal your name or any other personal information, such as where you live, your marital status, or the names of family members. Use universal identifiers, such as “my relative,” “my friend,” or other general descriptions. In sharing your experience, strength, and hope, avoid sharing details that might be too identifiable. While you are anonymous to the correctional facility, OA is not. OA received clearance to communicate with the inmate, so it is essential that you not do anything that could reveal your identity or jeopardize OA’s clearance. Member Services will forward your letter to the inmate, and any response from the inmate will be sent to you in care of the WSO. Never communicate with an inmate without going through the WSO.
Certainly, you will want to avoid being used for purposes other than Twelve Step work. To offer to carry messages to anyone or to contact family members, a third party, or the prison administration on the inmate’s behalf might hinder rather than help the inmate’s recovery or might breach the institution’s regulations. Doing so might compromise you and the good reputation of OA. Breaches of institutional regulations may result in discipline, or even criminal penalties. Never send anything, such as food, money, gifts, or cigarettes, to the inmate. We suggest that you stick to the program of recovery. That is, after all, the only thing you can provide: the message of recovery through the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous.
Tradition Six: An OA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the OA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
Tradition Eight: Overeaters Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
Tradition Twelve: Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
OA Responsibility Pledge
Always to extend the hand and heart of OA to all who share my compulsion; for this I am responsible.
Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA Telephone: +1 505-891-2664
Starting an OA meeting in your area is easy.
The World Service Office is here to support you in your efforts to carry the message of hope and recovery. This form of service will add to your own program of recovery! All you need is a desire to stop eating compulsively and the willingness to start the meeting.
Order the “Starter Kit”, item #730 at US$20 (plus shipping and handling).
It contains items to help get your meeting off to a good start. The kit also includes Where Do I Start? and the Suggested Meeting Format. You will also receive a sampling of our pamphlets. (Note: Your service body may offer these materials for a lower cost.)
Purchase the OA Handbook for Members, Groups, and Service Bodies, item #120 at US$13 (plus shipping and handling).
The OA Handbook will come in handy with ideas for spreading the news in your community about the meeting and as a guide to your group as it grows. The OA Handbook is also available in e-book format. Visit bookstore.oa.org for more information.
Find a meeting space.
Be sure to check out churches, community centers, schools, and libraries, as well as the hospitals. Each group ought to be self supporting, so be sure that your group considers a donation, should the facility you choose not charge you rent. For virtual meetings, there are many audio and video conferencing platforms that offer services for free or at a nominal fee.
We suggest you do this as soon as you start your meeting so it can be listed in our Find a Meeting database and people searching for a meeting in your area can find you. Please be sure to keep the World Service Office informed of any changes that occur regarding your meeting. Contact name (first name only) and phone number are important. This is how the newcomer or traveling member gets more information about the meeting. Each meeting must have a contact name and number. If there is no one in your group who wants to be listed as the contact, you can use the intergroup or service board name and number should you choose to affiliate with one.
We strongly suggest that your group affiliate with an intergroup or national service board.
An intergroup/national service board is made up of several groups in a locality or a virtual community. Its purpose is to serve and represent the groups of which they are composed and act as the guardian of the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and Twelve Concepts of OA Service. Affiliation gives the group access to this support. At some point, your group will need an intergroup/national service board representative to attend the intergroup/national service board meetings and be part of the OA community in your area. The intergroup/national service board can be helpful in supporting your meeting during this initial phase of your development. Please contact the World Service Office if you need assistance in locating an intergroup or national service board.
Check out other meetings!
If there are no OA meetings in your area and you are not very familiar with OA, you might want to consider taking a “field trip” with some other potential members to visit the meetings outside your area that are more established. It can be great fun traveling with a carload of compulsive overeaters and great for your recovery. It is also helpful for the groups that you visit. They may want to return the favor and bring members to your meeting once your group has started.
Get the word out!
A good idea is to investigate the Public Information and Professional Outreach Service Manual in the future. Its focus is on carrying the message in your community and offers several helpful suggestions and examples. It is item #765 and sells for US$20.
You are welcome to contact us at any time at info@oa.org or 1-505-891-2664. Thank you for carrying the message of recovery.
Use this guide with suggestions of what to say and what not to say when speaking to someone about OA for the first time.
DOs
I am open to talking about my recovery.
I mention how much my weight has changed, and I may show my pre-OA photo.
I am positive and happy when talking about OA.
I am always willing to give out the New Prospect Card and my phone number.
I emphasize the peace of mind I have found in life around food.
I suggest that people come to a meeting and just listen. Nothing is required of them.
I mention OA to my doctor and other health care professionals.
I carry the message as part of my action plan.
I am concise when talking about the OA program, leaving room for curiosity.
I explain the concept of “just for today.”
I mention that OA is a nonprofit organization and there are no membership dues or fees.
I share how OA has helped in all facets of my life.
I explain some of the program’s Tools.
I give examples of my unhealthy eating behaviors from before OA (such as eternal dieting, starving, bingeing, constantly weighing myself).
I say that our program is modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous and that my problem is similar to alcoholism. OA is for people who use food just like alcoholics use alcohol.
I offer to meet them at their first meeting if at all possible.
DON’Ts
I don’t tell people that OA is the only way.
I try not to sound like a preacher or give a speech.
I don’t judge other people, and I don’t label them as compulsive overeaters.
I don’t talk about another’s shape or weight, only my own.
I do not mention specific spiritual or religious beliefs.
I don’t speak about OA to someone new unless he or she shows an interest.
I don’t try to “sell” the Twelve Step program or exaggerate about it.
I don’t promise anything.
I don’t put down diets or methods of weight loss; I don’t compare OA to other programs.
I don’t give too much information about meetings and how it all works; the best way to understand is to come to a meeting.
I don’t give unsolicited advice or suggestions.
I don’t rush people into making a decision.
I don’t argue.
I don’t shut the door. Even if someone is not interested now, he or she may be interested in the future.
“I don’t have to wait until I am perfect to do service.” (Voices of Recovery, Second Edition, p. 252)
“Service gives me practice at freeing myself from the bondage of self.” (Voices of Recovery, Second Edition, p. 284)
“Only by working with those who are not yet free [from the disease] do I fully realize that freedom.” (For Today, p. 252)
“We now have a message of hope to carry to other compulsive overeaters.” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 81)
“When all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day.” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 15)
“Most of us who’ve worked this program will be unable to keep the recovery we have unless we share our experience, strength, and hope with others.” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 82)
“Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 89)
“Those of us who live this program don’t simply carry the message; we are the message.” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 87)
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Tradition Five
Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers.
OA Responsibility Pledge
Always to extend the hand and heart of OA to all who share my compulsion, for this I am responsible.
The Twelve Steps
We admitted we were powerless over food—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Permission to use the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous for adaptation granted by AA World Services, Inc.
The Twelve Traditions
Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity.
For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or OA as a whole.
Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers.
An OA group ought never endorse, finance or lend the OA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
Every OA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
Overeaters Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
OA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence, the OA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television and other public media of communication.
Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
Permission to use the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous for adaptation granted by AA World Services, Inc.
Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA Telephone: +1 505-891-2664
Introduction
“These Twelve Traditions are to the groups what the Twelve Steps are to the individual. They are suggested principles to ensure the survival and growth of the many groups that compose Overeaters Anonymous.” —The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous
The Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous
Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity.
For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or OA as a whole.
Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers.
An OA group ought never endorse, finance or lend the OA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
Every OA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
Overeaters Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
OA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence, the OA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television and other public media of communication.
Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
Permission to use the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous for adaptation granted by AA World Services, Inc.
“Our way of life, based on these Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, has brought us physical, emotional and spiritual healing that we don’t hesitate to call miraculous. What works for us will work for you too.” —read the full Introduction to the Twelve Steps.
The Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous
We admitted we were powerless over food—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Permission to use the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous for adaptation granted by AA World Services, Inc.
