To ALL GROUP TREASURERS and AA Group Members of Area 50: please download and forward these details to your group treasurer from your Area Treasurer in response to the GSO stance on Virtual Contributions – taken from the pamphlet the A.A. Group Treasurer.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

“The traditional means of assuring that the group is self-supporting is to pass the basket. Since there are no dues or fees for A.A. membership, those members attending the meeting are asked to make a voluntary contribution to help cover the group’s expenses and to support local services, and the services of your General Service Office. Typically, after the basket is passed, the group treasurer takes charge of the money collected.”

A number of groups have utilized digital payment platforms to provide opportunities for members to make cashless contributions. There are different payment platforms to facilitate this service and it is up to the group to determine which one to use. Experience

suggests that the treasurer is a likely choice to handle digital contributions, though some groups add more than one trusted servant to share the responsibilities or create a new service position to inform the group about digital payment options and assist other group members who are interested in contributing this way.”

Some common forms of virtual baskets are: PayPal, Venmo, Google Pay, to name a few. Once again it is each individual’s group decision reflecting the group conscience as to how they want to collect these funds and distribute them. Please read over those portions of the pamphlet that pertain to this closely, as the Treasurer will be the one who must be comfortable with this process. More detail will be posted on this page as more information on the topic comes in.

The question where should I send group contributions?

• Your District (contact your District Committee Member)
• Area 50 (Western New York General Service Assembly 5999 South Park Ave., #103 Hamburg, NY 14075)
• Intergroup /Central Office (contact your Intergroup/Central Office)
• General Service Office (can be made online or to P O Box 459 New York City, NY 10163)

Online contributions may be made by credit card or a check - click on the AA member contributions online icon on www.aa.org for GSO contributions.

Also, please note that checks for Area have come in unable to be deposited, as the name needs to be the “Western New York General Service Assembly”, an issue we hope gets passed out to our large fellowship with gratitude for all contributions!

Hope this helps, remain fearless,

Steve J. Area 50 Treasurer