St. Paul Al-Anon/Alateen Intergroup Minutes
Meeting April 12, 2011
The meeting opened with the Serenity Prayer
Concept 4 – Participation is the key to
harmony – was read. Members shared their thoughts on the
Concept.
Introductions and Roll Call
Present were the Chair, the Treasurer, the Assistant Treasurer, the
Newsletter editor and other Intergroup Representatives. There being 6
voting members (more than 5% of groups) a quorum was present.
The Chair’s vision for St. Paul Al-Anon/Alateen
Intergroup in 2011: to strengthen stronger links between St. Paul
Intergroup and Al-Anon districts, groups, and Minnesota South Area. It
would be beneficial to have formal liaisons connecting these Al-Anon
servcce arms. One reason this is needed is because many members have
little understanding of the role of St. Paul Intergroup.
Intergroup is needed as much as ever. Newcomers are always arriving in
our program. At recent meetings of the Uptown Beginners’ meeting
there have been over 50 people present.
Intergroup Reports
- Treasurer
- The Treasurer reported March contributions of about $1,016 and
literature/medallion sales of $2,172.
- On the expense side, $650 was paid for rent, $150 to Minneapolis
Information Services as our share in supporting the website and after
hours phone answering, $109 for phone and internets service, $59 for
yellow page advertising, $2,062 to WSO to purchase literature, $75 for a
Gratitude Night related expense, $23 for fax expense related to
literature purchases and $25 to WSO as a contribution (all numbers
rounded to nearest dollar).
- The checking account balance on 3/31/11 was $3,l853 and the
prudent reserve accoutn balance as $3,280. It was noted this was down
$5,000 in the 15 months since January 2010
- Motion
- It was moved, seconded and approved unanimously to discontinue our
monthly contribution to WSO.
- Newsletter
- It was decided we need to add a graphic display of our finances to
the newsletter. The newsletter is a great tool to inform others about St. Paul
Intergroup. The deadline is to get the newsletter out the first part
of May.
- Double Dimer Program
- The Assistant Treasurer described the program. It was established
about 15 years ago to encourage contributions from individuals who
could afford it. The idea was for individuals to pledge contributions
equivalent to two dimes (20¢) per day, or about $6 per month.
There are envelopes for sending the contributions. We discussed
putting an envelope with the next newsletter. In recent years, the
program has faded almost to the point of invisibilty through lack of
attention.
- We discussed having an ice cream social to kick off getting the
program active. A planning committee was set up. A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously
to have such an event, with a maximum of $500 to be spent in preparing
for it. The event will start at 11:30 on July 30th in
Cherokee Park.
- 2011 budget
- Intergroup’s prudent reserve is way down, and we don’t
have have a clear grasp of our expected income and expenses. The
chair, treasurer and assistant treasurer will meet and try to come
up with a budget forecast
- Midlake Alateen Convention
- A flyer from the Midlake Alateen Convention was read. It
requested a contribution to help cover the expenses of teens and
sponsors. After some discussionk a motion was made, seconded and
voted that Intergroup would not contribute this year. Instead,
members present said they would bring the flyer to their groups and
encourarge Al-Anon members to make individual contributions.
- Further outreach ideas
- The possibility of having an outreach Pizza
night was discussed. No action was taken.
The meeting adjourned a little after 8:30 pm.
Open Positions
Al-Anon / Alateen members are needed to fill the following elected
positions for the remainder of 2011:
Vice Chair
Secretary
Also needed are members willing to serve in the following volunteer
positions:
Outside Literature Chair (sales at events)
Volunteer Chair (current chair would like to retire)
Alateen Chair
Office Manager
Public Outreach Chair
Liaison to the Minnesota South Area
Liaison to Minneapolis Information Services
Intergroup Archives
Double-Dimer Chair