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Service Matters – Our World Service Newsletter

Our monthly World Service newsletter keeps GSA members in the know about what’s happening at GreySheeters Anonymous World Services and how to be of service in this global community. 

Member contributions are welcome. If you would like to write for Service Matters, email the Communication...

Service Matters – Our World Service Newsletter

Our monthly World Service newsletter keeps GSA members in the know about what’s happening at GreySheeters Anonymous World Services and how to be of service in this global community. 

Member contributions are welcome. If you would like to write for Service Matters, email the Communication Committee at communication@greysheet.org.

More

Service Matters • May 2018

GreySheeters Anonymous World Service (GSAWS) - Board of Trustees - Announcements

MEET THE BOARD!

GSR's and ISR's – Please Note:

On Sunday, June 17, 2018, at 10 A.M EST, all are invited to a special Zoom "MEET THE BOARD" video meeting. Details with Zoom meeting ID will be published in the June issue of Service Matters.

We ask that every GSR and ISR report to your groups and ask what topics, concerns and questions members might have that they would like to see discussed at this meeting.  Send all questions and topics to gsawsbot@gmail.com by May 18, and she will send them to the GSWS Board  of Trusteesvas they prepare for the meeting. 

Please be sure that all members have downloaded the Zoom.us app on their computer, tablet or phone prior to the June 17th meeting. Zoom is free for anyone attending a meeting.

GreySheet Website Upgrade
The Board of Trustees is currently working with the Web Committee on requirements for update of the GreySheet web site and related budget.

Q & A Corner

Question: Why is it important for GSA members to know about World Service and to provide topics for discussion at the Meet the Board Zoom meeting in June?

Answer: GreySheeters Anonymous is a twelve-step recovery program for compulsive eating. In keeping with AA's Traditions and Concepts, the structure of our fellowship is an upside-down pyramid. In other words, the individual groups and meetings are the most important part of our structure. The decisions made at the Board of Trustees level affect all of us. The Communications Committee which produces Service Matters would like to be instrumental in facilitating two-way communication between groups, the Board of Trustees, and the World Service committees which are composed of conference delegates and are involved in helping to spread the message of GreySheet recovery. Every GSR and ISR is charged with relaying information between their groups and the Board of Trustees and World Service Conference committees. We are now asking GSR's to report back to World Service so that there is a way to communicate the concerns of members and for these concerns to be considered.

Israeli GSA Marathon, Kiryat-Bialik, Israel   

Hosted by the Kiryat-Bialik Group on April 27, 2018, the focus of this marathon was “The Fellowship, God and What's Between.”  The marathon was held in the group's face to face meeting room, and was attended by more than fifty GreySheeters from all over Israel.

The day was divided into two parts. In each, three GSA members qualified for approximately 15 minutes, focusing on the strength of the Group as an important layer of one's spiritual path, the importance of Group rules and Group Conscience, the fellowship, Sponsorship and personal service. It was interesting to see how each of the six qualifiers focused on the subject from their own point of view; yet, all emphasized the spiritual aspect as a must for building strength and success in one's program.

The atmosphere was warm, friendly and accepting, and infused much strength into the community, and to who attended.

Malibu Retreat - "Beyond Our Wildest Dreams", Malibu California   

During the weekend of April 6-8, 2018 a GSA retreat with the theme, “Beyond Our Wildest Dreams,” took place at the Serra Retreat Center in Malibu, California. The retreat welcomed 55 GSA members from 15 states and Canada. If you have never been to a GSA retreat, it is an amazing boost of 12 step recovery: enjoying speakers with years of GreySheet abstinence, small intimate breakout sessions, and meetings on the beach. Some GSA members gave their time to lead sessions in Yoga, Zumba and Meditation.

We joined with fellow sisters and brothers to share six beautiful meals and our life experiences that focus on why and how we don’t eat no matter what. One miracle was being able to see people who started counting their days at the Malibu retreat in April 2017, attend a year later with back to back GS abstinence!

Retreats can deepen your commitment as you make bonds with people all over the country and stay in touch throughout the year. The Malibu and New York communities were very generous with their time in planning the retreat, picking yummy foods and coordinating meetings and activities. The Serra Retreat Centre is down the road from the beach and little shops. We had the opportunity to walk, talk and form relationships.

We were able to connect with old friends and new, sharing laughter, tears and the deepening of souls and our GS commitment. We are not a glum lot! We had a common bond and were also there to help each other. It was beautiful to see sponsors and sponsees meet each other for the first time. Our infamous raffle was so much fun! It helped raise money to keep the Malibu retreat financially solvent.

This is a ‘We’ program, and if we give our heart and soul, and weigh and measure each meal, our life will be “Beyond Our Wildest Dreams!” Save the date for next year – April 5 – 7, 2019.

Service Matters • April 2018

Announcements from the GreySheeters Anonymous World Service (GSAWS) Board of Trustees

Happy GSA 20th Anniversary!!

Every one of us gets to celebrate this milestone of our fellowship!!

Make sure you see our GreySheet Counts results on our website
beginning April 6!

GreySheeters Anonymous World Services - 2018 Operating Budget

The 2018 budget was approved by the Board of Trustees, now available for review on the GSAWS website. Main budget highlights:

Income:                     $12,150
Operating Expenses:   $13,445
Net Income:               $(1,295)

Prudent Reserve: (50% of expenses): $6,800

Click here for detailed review of the planned 2018 budget, compared to 2017 Actual budget.

GreySheeters Anonymous World Services - 2013-2017 Profit/Loss 

Following is the 5-year P&L (in Quickbooks):

Total donation income:                  $77,990.18
Other income (WSC registrations): $13,000.00
Total income:                                $90,990.18

Total WSC expenses:                     $76,975.39
Total operating expenses:              $32,619.66
Total Expenses:                           $109,595.05

Income/Expenses difference:        $(18,604.87)

Click here for detailed review of the 2013-2017 Profit/Loss.

Focus on Literature Committee

The Literature Committee of GreySheeters Anonymous is a group of men and women who are committed to living the GreySheet steps, traditions and concepts. Our primary purpose is to stay abstinent and to carry the message of recovery to compulsive eaters. It is our duty to create clear and concise pices of long and short form literature, spiritual in nature, that is helpful to and speaks the language of both compulsive eaters and food addicts that still suffer and those who are maintaining their abstinence (from the Literature Committee Charter).

The Literature committee has created short-form literature such as the newest, located on the GreySheet.org Home page, “Definitions and Slogans,” as well as public information brochures also available on the GreySheet website, “Young People’s Pamphlet,” and “A Solution for the Compulsive Eater.” The committee is currently working on a GreySheet History Book.

The Literature Committee, in conjunction with the Archival Committee who will record the oral history of GreySheeters Anonymous, will provide a volume to supplement the project with extensive interviews from our old-timers and how countless lives were saved from compulsive eating and food addiction.

The committee is reaching out to the GreySheet community for volunteers in conducting interviews and transcribing with the history book. Anyone interested in serving as a volunteer
on this committee should contact Jmelmore.jm@gmail.com for further information.

Q & A Corner

Question: What does No Matter What mean?

Answer: GreySheet abstinence is saving my life, one day, one meal at a time. No matter what means it doesn't matter what else happens in my day; it doesn't matter who does or doesn't understand why I must do what I must do to stay abstinent; it doesn't matter how graceful or bumbling I am when weighing and measuring my food in public; it doesn't matter how I feel in between my meals.

What matters is staying abstinent today so that I can make that choice tomorrow. What matters is asking for help when I'm confused about something while getting my meal together so that I can have clarity about the food I am eating. What matters is putting my abstinent head on my pillow at night and waking up abstinent. What matters is that three times a day, no matter what kind of day I am having, good, bad or indifferent, I will do what it takes to weigh and measure my food off the grey sheet, food that will nourish me, satisfy me, taste delicious and take care of what my body needs. And then, no matter what happens after that, when my next meal comes, I do the same
thing.

I don't have to be able to explain or prove why GreySheet abstinence works, but my life and the lives of all of us in this community are witnesses that it does work. It really does. How does GreySheet abstinence work? Very well, thank you, one day, one meal at a time.

Seventh Tradition: Every GSA group ought to be fully selfsupporting, declining outside contributions

The following is an excerpt from October 1967 Grapevine, by Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous:
AA's far-flung Twelfth Step activities, carrying the message to the next sufferer, are the very lifeblood of our AA adventure. Without this vital activity, we would soon become anemic; we would literally wither and die.

Now where do AA's services – worldwide, area, local—fit into our scheme of things? Why should we provide these functions with money? The answer is simple enough. Every single AA service is designed to make more and better Twelfth Step work possible, whether it be a group meeting place, a central or intergroup office to arrange hospitalization and sponsorship, or the world service Headquarters (now the General Service Office) to maintain unity and effectiveness all over the globe.

Though not costly, these service agencies are absolutely essential to our continued expansion—to our survival as a Fellowship. Their costs are a collective obligation that rests squarely upon all of us. Our support of services actually amounts to recognition on our part that AA must everywhere function in full strength—and that, under our Tradition of self-support, we are all going to foot the bill.”

New York Metro Intergroup News

The Fourth Annual Long Island Speaker Jam will be held on Saturday, April 14 at Levittown Hall, 201 Levittown Parkway, Hicksville, NY 11801. Details under the Event tab of greysheet.org or at www.greysheetny.org/events

New!! NY GSA Information Line 336-447-3974 or (336-4gr-eysh)
This number is listed on GSA Meetings – Metropolitan New York Area & Long Island, GSA NY Metro Intergroup website as well as upcoming events documentation and flyers i.e.
Speaker Jam. This new Google number was set up for the purpose of people finding us, to find out where to go, what number to call etc. We are using it as public information tool to attract new people or to let people know that there is hope out there versus a helpline for existing members.

Intergroups - mail us your news and we will publish it in the next Service Matters edition!

Inspiration Corner

I am a hopeless compulsive overeater who has found the answer to my problem. Before GreySheet, I was prey to any new diet, any new fad that promised to help me lose the weight that made me so miserable. I believed if I were thin, I would be happy. I lost the weight; I saw the number on the scale that was supposed to qualify me as lovable, capable and worthy of happiness. I bought the skinny jeans, and I was so convinced I would never be fat again, I celebrated with my favorite things: carbs, sugar and grains, of course! And I boomeranged back up the scale, crying into my cartons, boxes and bags and unable to stop. I couldn't stop more than temporarily. I couldn't stay stopped.

I needed more than a food plan, but I needed the right food plan. GreySheet is the right food plan for me. I love food more than most people. I don't have to give that up in GreySheet, but I do have to give up certain foods that are poison for me and set me up to have cravings. Then I have to weigh the right amounts, commit my food to my sponsor, and don't eat in-between no matter what.

I need a fellowship. I need to know that I'm not the only one carrying my scales with me, that I'm not the only one on the planet doing this. And I need to know that every single day. I can't do this alone. I never could. Thank you, GreySheet, for helping me get abstinent, stay abstinent, and help other compulsive overeaters achieve abstinence.

Service Matters • March 2018

Announcements from the GreySheet World Service Board of Trustees (GSAWS BOT)

* Regarding the GreySheet Committee

In the Fall of 2017, the Chair of the Board of Trustees consulted with our copyright attorney to see if the “Extended GreySheet” constituted an infringement of our copyright. The attorney suggested that, since certain aspects of GreySheet abstinence were not spelled out on the GreySheet, a document be prepared to clarify the foods, measurements, and instructions without changing anything on the copyrighted GreySheet.

A committee of 14 GreySheeters Anonymous members, each with at least 20 years of back to back GreySheet abstinence, has been commissioned by the Board of Trustees to address the situation of variation in our common interpretation of GreySheet abstinence.

The BOT asked the committee to consider two tasks:

1. Clarify GreySheet abstinence as interpreted by a sponsor. This may include elaborating on the existing GreySheet pamphlet by writing down those practices commonly understood to be part of GreySheet abstinence
but which are not included on the original pamphlet. It will not include altering the GreySheet itself in any way.

2. Draft a document - Guidelines for Sponsoring GreySheet Abstinence - to help sponsors pass on this common definition of GreySheet abstinence.

The committee will also consider recommendations to the Board of Trustees and the World Service Conference for how these documents may be used.

Historically, we have had a certain amount of minor variation in what sponsors deem GreySheet-abstinent. In recent years, a growing number of people have been changing the definition. In addition to more people making changes, there is also an increasing degree of variation, including adding foods not listed and adding meals.

GreySheeters Anonymous World Service Board of Trustees and the GreySheeters Anonymous World Service Conference have previously adopted a “hands-off’ approach to these developments because of traditional GreySheet community principles such as, “Your abstinence is between you and sponsor.”, “Keep your eyes on your own plate.”, “There are no GreySheet police.”

However, more and more GreySheeters are expressing increasingly serious concern about these changing interpretations of GreySheet abstinence. Their concerns include:

  • Other interpretations of GreySheet abstinence may not be as effective in arresting compulsive eating.
  • It may be confusing and disheartening to newcomers to have multiple interpretations. Part of the effectiveness of GreySheet is that we know that others have been abstinent using the same interpretation through whatever “No Matter What” situations arise. This provides faith that each of us can also be abstinent through similar challenges. If we are all doing something different, we may weaken the belief that we can maintain our abstinence. Splintering into multiple “lines” of the fellowship which used to be united around one common interpretation of GreySheet-abstinence may lead to the breakup of GreySheeters Anonymous as a fellowship. This would make it more difficult to carry the GreySheet message to the next compulsive eater seeking a solution.

In November 2017, the Board of Trustees voted to authorize a committee to address these concerns and recruited members from the USA and Israel with more than 20 years of GreySheet abstinence. The new GreySheet Committee had its first meeting in February 2018 and will continue to meet every other week.

Questions or Comments: GreySheetCommittee@greysheet.org

* Regarding the World Service Conference

After significant work done by the Conference Committee and considerable discussion, the Board of Trustees voted at their last meeting to postpone the World Service Conference from October 2018 to the Fall of 2019 for the following reasons:

1. To provide the GSA Committees enough lead time to develop well thought out motions that the Fellowship can review and comment on prior to the Conference.

2. To give the GSAWS BOT and the Conference Committee more time to determine the exact cost of the WSC for those GSRs and ISRs who will be attending; the BOT is determined to keep the Fellowship solvent and not allocate the entire operating budget to the WSC.

3. To allow sufficient time to collect donations to send GSRs/ISRs to the Conference.

GreySheet Counts!  The Census Closes on March 31st, 2018!

GreySheeters Anonymous will celebrate its 20th anniversary as a separate 12-step fellowship on April 6th, 2018. To mark the occasion and in the spirit of the 12th step, to carry the message, we will publish a map on www.greysheet.org on our anniversary. The map will show the number of people weighing and measuring without exception from the GreySheet in every state and country and the amount of GreySheet-abstinence we have.

This will demonstrate to the newcomer that there is a solution to compulsive eating that works, that GreySheet can work everywhere, and that they can reach out and find GreySheet wherever they are.

634 GreySheeters have counted themselves in so far. The preliminary results show the strength of our fellowship.

The census closes on March 31st. To strengthen our message with your abstinence, Count Yourself In.

You will have the option to join the GSA Phone List with over 650 members or you may participate anonymously. If you are a trusted servant for a GreySheeters Anonymous meeting or Intergroup, please announce this service opportunity at your meetings in March. Members can go to www.greysheet.org / Events / GreySheet Counts for the link to the census or, if they do not have internet access, call 713 594 1728.

GSA Phone List

The GSA Phone List is a service of GreySheeters Anonymous World Service available to members who join the list. To join this list of 693 GreySheeters in 22 countries and 44 US states and territories, register here.

You will receive a User Name and Password and be able to access the list online on your phone, tablet, or computer or download a copy. The list is updated weekly with new members and all members are verified at least once a year so you can be sure that you are calling committed, active members.

Members report using the list to:

  • Make three calls a day to other GreySheeters
  • Find GreySheeters when they travel
  • Start or grow a meeting in their area
  • Invite members to GreySheet events like Round Ups, Retreats, and Gatherings
  • Find a new sponsor.

The members of the GSA Phone List constitute an amazing source of Experience, Strength, and Hope about living in the GreySheet solution.

Reflections After a GSA Retreat

Held at the Bishop Molloy Retreat House on February 2-4, 2018, the 2nd Annual Queens Weekend Retreat was a success and a great experience for the eighteen people who attended (six more than attended in 2017). They came from Seattle, Atlanta, Massachusetts and NYC Boroughs Tri-City and Tri-State regions.

The event flyer highlighted prosperity, abundance, success and gratitude, which provided a powerful foundation. The theme for the weekend was “The Promises,” focusing the attendants on recovery and working on ourselves together, and one retreat planner reported, “We did lots of activities designed to do just that.”

The weekend was winter cold, with back-to-back sessions, abundant and delicious food prepared by a chef attentive to GreySheet needs, and meetings with qualifying speakers and others sharing their experience, strength, truth and hope about life in No Matter What abstinence. There was little time for relaxing, but it all contributed to getting to know each other deeply and well.

A debrief on Sunday cited the outreach efforts used to promote the event: mentioning the retreat on phone meetings, using all the email lists to send the flyer out; posting the flyer on the Greysheet website and sending out emails to participants who had attended GreySheet retreats in the past.

Upcoming Events

We invite you to refer to our full list of events on our constantly updating and informative Events Page!

Service Matters • February 2018

Message of Hope - Keep Coming Back and STAY!

While the newcomer to GSA is often heartened to hear the words, “Keep Coming Back” from members, once a period of abstinence is attained, whether it's 30, 60, 90 days or a year, the message from longer-timers to the not-so-newbie is, “Stay.”

Stay when you're at your goal weight and wondering if you really need meetings and daily contact with your sponsor.

Stay when your abstinent life has delivered you to wonderful relationships, challenging and rewarding jobs or a career.

Stay when you wonder if the GreySheet food plan is really healthy for you after all this time.

Stay when you think you have the discipline now to do this on your own.

Stay when you just can't imagine being an old person in a nursing home doing what it takes to stay abstinent.

Because all of these thoughts are not simply thoughts. They seem reasonable, especially to those outside of our community. But they are the voice of the disease.

Stay until your head clears; until the stress or the lack of stress in your life renders you sane again.

Stay while you pick up the phone and call someone, perhaps a newcomer, who is struggling to have what you have worked so hard to achieve.

Stay to be eligible to lead a meeting, handle the treasury, or represent your group at World Service or Intergroup meetings.

Stay till you know in your bones that you're part of the “We” of this program.

We hope you stay!

Upcoming Events

Sign up soon for any of these events!

The Event

Date & Location

Topic

Information Contact

2nd Annual GSA Retreat Queens NY

Feb 2-4, 2018

Bishop Molloy Retreat Center.

Queens NY

  

Yvonne at 646-399-4603

Juliette at 646 709 7828

GSA

Anniversary in Iceland

Feb 10, 2018

14:00-16:00

Von, Hús SÁÁ, Efstaleiti  7, 103 Reykjavík

  

gsa@gsa.is

San Diego Winter Retreat

Feb 16-18, 2018

Mission San Luis Rey– Oceanside, California

  

Jacqueline R., 619-246-

9129

Paris Roundup

Feb 24, 2018

11:00

75, rue de

l’Assomption, 75016 Paris

GS meeting followed  by pot luck, literature  meeting in the  afternoon plus something touristy to do

anne.b111@yahoo.fr ilona.anachkova@gmail.com

Connecticut Intergroup GS One-Day Retreat

Feb 24, 2018

10:00-16:00

The Convent of St. Brigette, 4 Runkenhage Road, Darien, Connecticut 06820

“A” Road to Recovery – Acceptance, Accountability, and Amends.

dk_burton@sbcglobal.net llauritano@yahoo.com

2018 Malibu

Retreat and Round-Up

April 6 - 8, 2018

Serra retreat 3401 Serra Road

Malibu, CA 90265

Beyond Our Wildest Dreams

Jayne P.,

pepsi4444@ca.rr.com Registration until February 5, 2018.

 

Question of the Month

Q:  How do I access meetings through the Zoom platform?

A:  Generally speaking, your computer/phone needs to have a camera and a microphone.

You can download the Zoom app at no cost by going to their website, zoom.us.

Press the Sign up, It's Free button; type in your email address; you will receive a message at the address you've given; confirm and follow the instructions to download the app. It's that simple.

If you have the Meeting ID number (these sometimes change every week), you can open up zoom.us and press Join a Meeting, then typing in that Meeting ID number at the time the meeting is supposed to start. That's it! You're in!!

If you receive an invitation on email message, it will contain a meeting ID that you just click on to enter the meeting.

Once in, you can mute and unmute yourself, and click either on Speaker or Gallery View (top right) to see only the person speaking or everyone who is attending the meeting. Laptops and notepads because of their larger screens are generally better than smart phones so you can see everyone who's attending.

Experiment with different ones to see what feels best for you. The list of video meetings (both Zoom and Skype) are on the greysheet.org website on: http://greysheet.org/meetings/skype-meetings 

12 Steps and 12 Traditions of GreySheet Anonymous

Now available for $19.99 (20% discount) softcover and $29.99 (20% discount) hardcover at:  greysheet.org/literature.

Donations always graciously accepted to support the work of the GSA World Service

– and every donation counts!  Go to: greysheet.org/donations 

GreySheet Counts!

The 20th anniversary GSA census called Greysheet Counts! launched on October 1st 2017 and will run until March 31st 2018. The results will be posted on www.greysheet.org on April 6th 2018 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of GSA as a separate 12-Step fellowship. We hope that the world map produced showing 1) the number of GreySheeters weighing and measuring without exception; 2) the average length of GS abstinence in each state and country, 3) how different GreySheeters have found GSA for the first time and 4) where Trusted Servants are holding service positions will show that this program works no matter where you live and will help connect GreySheeters and carry the message.

But we need YOU to Count Yourself In!  Click here  http://eepurl.com/c61zx9 to provide your information. Questions? Contact  GreySheetCounts@greysheet.org or 713-594-1728.

Service Matters • January 2018

Giving So We All Can Live in the Solution

Our Seventh Tradition states: Every GSA (GreySheeters Anonymous) group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. What does that mean to us as GreySheet individuals, groups, intergroups and our world-wide community?

It means we value the work that we do in our communities to reach out and support fellow sufferers. It means we contribute to the basket (or zoom/skype PayPal alternative) so that our meetings can continue, that the rent be paid, (or subscription fee for video and phone meetings). This is the minimum required to make sure our groups continue.

But what of the wider fellowship and the world-wide community?

GSA became an organization twenty years ago this April. We have met at World Service Conferences, have become a 501.C.3 organization, and are creating our own literature. While many of us are not as connected to that world-wide organization as the trusted servants who meet regularly as members of the Board of Trustees, Intergroup and GSA reps, it is still our primary purpose to stay abstinent and to help other compulsive eaters to achieve abstinence.

Many are doing service locally by sponsoring, leading meetings, and taking on service positions in their local home groups as treasurer, secretary, and speaker seekers, and this is a wonderful thing. But what of those in outposts who are still in the dark about the resources that are available, such as the GSA phone list and round-ups and retreats?

We in the Communications Committee would like to urge every Greysheeter to look into your heart and think about how you can further support our world-wide community, either by offering service as GSR's (Group Service Representatives), ISR's (Intergroup Service Representatives), or as volunteers working on the conference committees, by giving generously to ensure the successful World Service Conference in 2018, by getting yourselves counted by registering in GreySheet Counts! on the website and by reading Service Matters and becoming more informed.

Here are some suggestions for financial contributions:

  1. In 2015, a creative, innovative GreySheeter came up with an idea she called Club 164. The idea was for individual GreySheeters to contribute a monthly sum of $10 to GSAWS (GreySheeters Anonymous World Services) via PayPal. It was a great success, but contributors have dwindled of late. Let's resuscitate Club 164 now! Just donate a small and regular amount (monthly) through PayPal to GSAWS. The address is on the website and you could put your name and Club 164 in the memo to be sure it is counted as such. (Note: 100 GreySheeters contributing $10/month = $1000/month and $12,000 a year.) We have approx. 600 currently on the revamped GSA Phone List.
  1. On your GS anniversary, donate $1 for every year of abstinence in gratitude to the program that has given us our lives back!
  1. As a group that meets regularly, make sure that your treasurer contributes to the Intergroup and the GSAWS office whether as a regular monthly or quarterly amount, or as a percentage whenever you make a distribution. The percentages should always be set by your own group conscience.

We are small in number compared to AA, but we are mighty!! Let us each take responsibility for the well-being and the future of our fellowship. If you are curious about how GSAWS is spending its money, by all means check out the monthly Treasury Reports under Donations on the web page. Knowledge is power!

Southwest Intergroup (SWIG, formed 2012)

In April 2012, all of the GreySheeters in the SWIG Area (Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) were asked about forming the Southwest Intergroup. A GreySheeter in Phoenix asked to have Arizona included as there was no Pacific Intergroup yet. In 2014, we were asked if we would include the Southern Serenity meeting (Louisiana and Mississippi) until the SEIG forms. As of October 2015, the SWIG includes Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The first meeting of the SWIG was held May 20, 2012 and we continue to meet monthly since that time.

SWIG Mission Statement - the purpose of the SWIG is to support GreySheeters Anonymous (GSA) groups and outposts (individual members without groups) in attaining and maintaining GreySheet abstinence from compulsive eating and carrying the message to others that GSA offers a solution to this addiction.

Currently the SWIG meets via Zoom monthly to share ideas to strengthen groups and to carry the message to those who still suffer. We distribute the actual printed GreySheet to qualified sponsors in the SWIG according the mandate by GSAWS.  SWIG has participated in the past three GSA World Conferences with our intergroup and group representatives actively working on the GSA WSC committees for Finance, Literature, Structure, Public Information, Conference, and Communication. As part of “carrying the message to those who still suffer”, the SWIG decided to try posting videos on YouTube. The “videos” are audio recordings from individuals in the SWIG with the visuals being some of the GS questions about compulsive eating from “There Is a Solution” brochure moving across the screen. This format was chosen to help people decide for themselves if they are compulsive eaters and if GS might be for them. The YouTube videos are accessible via www.greysheet.org and YouTube or internet search and get between 1300-2000 views monthly.


The Europe Intergroup: Growing from Strength to Strength

From its humble beginnings in 2005, GSA Europe Intergroup now have members from England, Ireland, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Slovakia, speaking a mix of 11 European languages.  There are currently 11 meetings to choose from offering a mix of face-to-face, Skype, Zoom and telephone formats.

This Intergroup meets quarterly face-to-face and uses Skype and the telephone to include members who cannot attend in person.  These meetings give GSRs (Group Service Representatives) an opportunity to report on how their groups are running, and also give ISRs (Intergroup Service Representatives) and World Service Delegates an opportunity to update the groups on what is happening at GSA World Services.  Members can ask questions related to service positions, share experience with each other and identify areas that need improving and expanding on.

In addition to receiving 7th tradition donations from its members, the Intergroup hold 2 main events per year to strengthen its ability to be self-supporting and pay for resources to carry the message to the still suffering compulsive eater. The dates for both the 2018 Summer and Autumn events, once confirmed, will be published on greysheet.org.  

Individual groups within the Intergroup, such as the London Group, the Slovakian Group and the Polish Group, hold their own round-ups and pop-up events. 

The Paris Group  schedule of round-ups for 2018:

Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018

Saturday, May 6, 2018

London Round Up is in June so no Paris summer round up:

Saturday, Sept 29, 2018

Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018

We hope to see many of you at these fabulous events.  The London Group are holding their Round-up June 2-3, moved from late March.

Email us at gsaeurope@gmail.com

Other News

GreySheet Counts!   Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of GSA!

The 20th anniversary GSA census called Greysheet Counts! launched on October 1st 2017 and will run until March 31st 2018. The results will be posted on www.greysheet.org on April 6th 2018 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of GSA as a separate 12-Step fellowship. We hope that the world map produced showing 1) the number of GreySheeters weighing and measuring without exception; 2) the average length of GS abstinence in each state and country, 3) how different GreySheeters have found GSA for the first time and 4) where Trusted Servants are holding service positions will show that this program works no matter where you live and will help connect GreySheeters and carry the message.

But we need YOU to Count Yourself In!  Click here http://eepurl.com/c61zx9 to provide your information.    Questions? Contact  GreySheetCounts@greysheet.org or 713-594-1728.

 Your News

If you have any news you would like to share with the fellowship about your group’s activities and public information events, please reply to ekwiard@gmail.com with your stories and the Communications Committee will include these in the next edition of Service Matters.  Thank you all for you service in helping to carry the message to the still suffering compulsive eater.

Service Matters • December 2017

We at Service Matters are delighted to bring recent reports from various GSA Service Committees. Here are the reports received so far.

Website Committee 

The Website (Sub)Committee has been working on putting together the requirements for a new GreySheet.org website, based on information gathered from the fellowship, the Board, and the different Committees.

The Committee will be submitting a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) to the GSAWS Board by the beginning of 2018. The website development budget will be reviewed based on the final requirements defined. Following the Board's approval of the requirements and budget, the RFP will be circulated to the fellowship and to service providers recommended by members of our fellowship. The Website Subcommittee will review the proposals and make recommendations to the Board, which will make the final choice of provider.

The current website will remain in place while the new website is built. While we're in this transitional stage, please contact saws220@yahoo.com or marathonmary83@hotmail.com with any requests for changes to the current website.

The Website (Sub)Committee meets on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 10 AM Pacific on Zoom. If you'd like to come to a meeting or help out with the project, email sallie@salliegoetsch.com. You're also welcome to review our working documents, which are on Google Drive at https://goo.gl/KtzbpP.
 
Archives Committee 

The Archives Committee has two focal points: archiving and oral history. The committee is collecting, digitalizing and storing documents.
 
1. Archiving: Digitalized documents will not be searchable until the committee has the resources to contract with an archival service to organize and attach metadata to each digital document to make it searchable. Until then, the committee is digitalizing and storing the 16 available Round-Up recordings; to date, the first ten recordings' digitliizing is done, with work continuing on the remaining six.
 
2. Oral History: The Oral History Project is collaborating with the Literature Committee, interviewing GreySheeters about the early days of the GreySheet, which the Literature Committee will use for their book on the History of GreySheet. The Committee needs people to do service by interviewing, being interviewed or writing summaries and submitting those summaries on the Archives Collection Record form. If interested, please contact dottie301@hotmail.com.

Structure Committee 

The Structure Committee has been working on revising a document for voting at the World Service Conference, a process for Conference Approval of Literature, and revising a motion for donations. The Committee team are also discussing the Service Manual that would include the 12 Concepts and ways to make GS more visible to people with eating disorders.

Conference Committee 

The Conference Committee has completed drafting the Conference Charter and submitted it to the GSAWS Board. The Charter will be on the agenda of the next World Service Conference. The Committee has continued to pursue arrangements with hotels and is working on a budget for discussion with the Board. Anyone interested in working on the Conference Committee should contact marjorie.mayerson@gmail.com.
OTHER NEWS

GreySheet Counts!   Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of GSA!

The 20th anniversary GSA census called Greysheet Counts! launched on October 1st 2017 and will run until March 31st 2018. The results will be posted on www.greysheet.org on April 6th 2018 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of GSA as a separate 12-Step fellowship. We hope that the world map produced showing 1) the number of GreySheeters weighing and measuring without exception; 2) the average length of GS abstinence in each state and country, 3) how different GreySheeters have found GSA for the first time and 4) where Trusted Servants are holding service positions will show that this program works no matter where you live and will help connect GreySheeters and carry the message.

But we need YOU to Count Yourself In!  Click here  http://eepurl.com/c61zx9 to provide your information.   

Questions? Contact  GreySheetCounts@greysheet.org or 713-594-1728.

New York Round-Up  

The 27th Annual New York Greysheet Round-Up was held October 21st and 22nd. There were 42 sessions on many topics surrounding GreySheet abstinence. A total of 286 people attended the Round-Up over the two days. There was a great feeling of community and the opportunity for many people to meet each other who were previously only voices over the phone. One of the most gratifying results of each Round-Up has been the number of people who trace their abstinence to the attendance at a Round-Up. The committee would like to thank the entire GreySheet community for making this a great success.
Register Your Group/Change Group Information 

If you have not done so already, please make sure you register your group on our website at Face-to-Face Meetings/Group Registration Form (please make this a hyperlink).
If you have registered your group, take a moment to check your group information. It is your responsibility to make sure your information is correct. This is to ensure that newcomers and regular members get the correct information they need to attend your groups – and that your group service representative gets updates from GSA World Services to bring to your group. Please email any changes to your group information to webservant@greysheet.org.

 

Sponsors List 

If you volunteered to put your name down as a sponsor on the sponsor list on the website, please check that your information is still up-to-date. If you are no longer available to sponsor and want your name removed from this list, please email webservant@greysheet.org with this information and your name will be removed. It is your responsibility to let us know when this information changes, so that we can make sure this information is as up-to-date for the newcomer as possible
YOUR NEWS
If you have any news you would like to share with the fellowship about your group’s activities and public information events, please reply to ekwiard@gmail.com with your stories and the Communications Committee will include these in the next edition of Service Matters.  Thank you all for you service in helping to carry the message to the still suffering compulsive eater.

Service Matters • September 2017

GSA World Services Working Hard to Make Improvements to the Website

GSA World Services wants to say a BIG thank you to all those GSA members who took time to review our website and share suggestions for how it can be improved. Since the beginning of May 2017 we have gathered all these wonderful suggestions together with what was suggested on the June 11 phone bridge meeting, where anyone who cared to called in to discuss these changes voice-to-voice and agree on the best way to proceed. 

A Website Update Committee has been formed from this phone meeting. These GSA volunteers are now working together to formulate a plan to begin to implement these improvements. There is a lot of work to do and GSA World Services is going to need a lot more volunteers to help carry out this work. Watch this space for updates and invitations to help with tasks.
 
The Website Update Committee will be sharing your suggestions for improvements with website design professionals qualified in the business of updating websites. This will be to ensure greysheet.org is as efficient and user friendly as possible. GSA World Services will be looking for three quotes for this work before making a decision on which direction to go in.
 
Thank you in advance for all your support.

GSA in Iceland: How it all began and where they are today...

It is 17 years since GSA was brought to Iceland.
 
A young women traveling in France met with a French woman who had been successful in her fight with compulsive eating.  They met outside the Paris airport where B, the Icelandic woman received the Greysheet and the guidance on how to start Greysheet abstinence.
 
After B arrived in Iceland, she decided to start her Greysheet abstinence.  Soon there were a few more active GSA abstinent people. Not long after this an American Greysheeter visited Iceland and the first GSA meeting with a 90-day person was held on 23 January 2000.
 
By 2001, a year later, about 10 members were active in GSA in Iceland. The only GSA meeting for many years was held on Thursdays in a small room in the "Yellow House" AA Club House, Tjarnagata, Reykjavik.  
 
Gradually, the fellowship has grown, not in pounds, but in members.  More meetings were established and today there are 8 active meetings in Iceland and we have a large core group with long-term back-to-back abstinence.
 
It's hard to tell how many people are active in GSA in Iceland today - but our phone list has more than 200 names and the meetings have reached 8. The Icelandic GSA community has been active in service and participated in world service both on the GSA World Services Board and in the GSA World Services Conferences.  The GSA Icelandic community formed the first General Service Committee within GSA World Services in 2004.
 
A strong message to those of you who are out there as an outpost.  Anything is possible if you are committed to carrying the message to the still suffering compulsive eater.  All you need is 90 days and you can start your own meeting.
 
Congratulations Iceland on your 17 years!!

"No Matter What" in Chicago

During the weekend of August 25-27 a GSA retreat with the theme 'NMW' (No Matter What) took place at the Cenacle Retreat Centre in Chicago, Illinois. The retreat housed 45 GSA members from 18 states and Canada. If you have never been to a GSA retreat, it is an amazing boost of 12 step recovery: speakers with 10+ years of Greysheet abstinence, small intimate breakout sessions and eating six beautiful meals with fellow sisters and brothers filled the weekend.  This year we shared our 'no matter whats' whether with our food, personal and or just getting through life situations. There were break-out sessions, meditation, yoga and movement sessions - and a very, very special fellowship among us. One miracle was being able to see people who started to count their days at the Malibu retreat in April, attend the Chicago retreat, with months of back to back abstinence! Retreats can deepen your commitment, as you make bonds with people and just stay in touch.
 
The Chicago community was very generous with their time in planning the retreat, picking yummy foods and coordinating meetings and activities. The Cenacle Retreat Centre is down the road from shops, restaurants and supermarkets. We had the opportunity to walk, talk and shop and form relationships. We were able to connect with friends we knew from around the country in addition to meeting new friends. There was laughter, tears and deepening of souls and commitments. We are not a glum lot! We had a common bond and were also there to help each other. It was beautiful to see sponsors and sponsees find each other for the first time. A member offered their beautiful voice and made us all smile and clap hands as we sang on Saturday night, right before the infamous raffle draw (oohing, ahhing and rolling eyes were prohibited!). In addition, we had a tribute to a dear member of GSA who touched many lives in many communities.  Her passing was one year ago, during the weekend of the retreat.
 
For us, it is all about our growing in community and GSA sharing. This is a “We” program and “We Do Not Eat No Matter What!”

GSA Phone List Revived! Action Action Action!

The International Phone List (IPL) of 800+ GreySheeters lapsed in 2015 after ten years of serving the community. Many people asked how we could make this resource available again. Thanks to GSA World Services (GSAWS), the old IPL has been transformed into the GSA Phone List and is now available on the GSA website, www.greysheet.org.

What is the GSA Phone List?

The GSA Phone List is a secure, members-only contact list for all GreySheeters in the United States and around the world. Access is by user name and password and is only available to those who join the list by providing their own contact information. Join the GSA Phone List here.

Who is on the GSA Phone List?

Over 300 committed GreySheeters have already confirmed their contact information or newly registered. More members join every day. The GSA Phone List has members in 38 US states:
 

  1. Alaska
  2. Arizona
  3. Arkansas
  4. California
  5. Colorado
  6. Connecticut
  7. Florida
  8. Georgia
  9. Hawaii
  10. Idaho
  1. Illinois
  2. Indiana
  3. Kansas
  4. Kentucky
  5. Louisiana
  6. Maine
  7. Maryland
  8. Massachusetts
  9. Michigan
  10. Missouri
  1. North Carolina
  2. Nebraska
  3. Nevada
  4. New Hampshire
  5. New Jersey
  6. New Mexico
  7. New York
  8. Ohio
  9. Oregon
  10. Pennsylvania
  1. South Carolina
  2. South Dakota
  3. Tennessee
  4. Texas
  5. Utah
  6. Vermont
  7. Virginia
  8. Washington

As well as 16 countries:

  1. Australia
  2. Bulgaria
  3. Canada
  4. England
  1. France
  2. Germany
  3. Iceland
  4. India
  1. Ireland
  2. Israel
  3. Mexico
  4. Northern Ireland
  1. Poland
  2. Slovakia
  3. Slovenia
  4. South Africa

How do GreySheeters Use the GSA Phone List?One GreySheeter found other GSers in her country and started a video meeting to connect them all. Others have sorted the list by abstinence date and asked people with decades of abstinence to sponsor them. Others have used the list to find GSers at a destination where they are travelling to.
 
You can access the list online, on your smart phone, tablet, or laptop or you can download a copy. When you access the list online, you can sort or search by name, city, state or country, and abstinence date.

Why Join the GSA Phone List? Join the GSA Phone List so you can:

  • Strengthen your abstinent network
  • Be of service to other GreySheeters
  • Find others in your area to start a face-to-face meeting
  • Connect with GreySheeters when you travel

Questions? PhoneList@greysheet.org 

Registered Meetings and Contact Information Updates

Please check your meeting information is up-to-date on our website. If there are any changes to this information, please let us know at webservant@greysheet.org.
 
If you are listed as a GSR or contact person for a meeting and are no longer the GSR for this meeting, please send us this information.  If the email address or contact number you gave at the time of registering your meeting has changed, please let us know.  If you do not let us know, then we cannot keep this information up to date.

Save the Date: 11 November 2017
 
"A ONE DAY RETREAT OF FELLOWSHIP THE GREY SHEET WAY!!"
 
WHAT:  The Cambridge/Boston GSA Community is having their first GSA One Day Retreat focussed on Fellowship with break out meetings organized according to themes that will be announced soon when the flyer is completed and distributed. Look for future information! Registration will begin soon, stay tuned!!
WHEN:   Saturday, 11 November 2017 from 10am to 4pm
WHERE: Cambridge Health Alliance (the old Cambridge City Hospital Macht Auditorium
This is on the same campus different building where Sunday 5 pm meeting is held.
 

Your News

If you have any news you would like to share with the fellowship about your group’s activities and public information events, please reply to sharonleighterry@gmail.com with your stories and the Communications Committee will include these in the next edition of Service Matters.  Thank you all for you service in helping to carry the message to the still suffering compulsive eater.

 

Service Matters • August 2017

GSA World Services Working Hard to Make Improvements to the Website 

GSA World Services want to say a BIG thank you to all those GSA members who took time to review our website and share suggestions for how it can be improved.
 
Since the beginning of May 2017 GSA World Services has been reaching out to the fellowship for suggestions for improvements to our website, greysheet.org.  We have now gathered all these wonderful suggestions together.  On 11 June at 1pm EST a phone bridge meeting was held, inviting all members of GSA to attend to discuss these changes voice-to-voice and agree on the best way to proceed.
 
A Website Update Committee was formed from this phone meeting. The volunteers are now working together to formulate a plan to begin to implement these improvements. There is a lot of work to do and GSA World Services are going to need a lot more volunteers to help carry out this work.
 
The Website Update Committee has shared your suggestions for improvements with website design professionals qualified in the business of updating websites - to ensure greysheet.org is as efficient and user friendly as possible.  The current greysheet.org website suffers from usability issues. While it may be possible to make some improvements to the existing website, there is no getting around the need to re-organize and probably rebuild the site.
 
The job that needs to be done is a much bigger one than originally anticipated and is going to cost in the region of $25,000 to complete – as much money as it costs GSA World Services to host a World Service Conference. Visit Frequently Asked Questions link for more info on this cost.
 
While GSA World Services has a prudent reserve to host the 2018 World Service Conference – it does not have an extra $25,000 in the 7th tradition pot to pay for the redevelopment of the website.
 
This is where GSA World Services is reaching out to you, the members of GSA, to ask for help to raise the funds for the upgrade of your website. The Website is the primary way for us to reach the sick and suffering compulsive eater!
 
In May and June 2017 GSA World Services received in the region of $550 per month in 7thtradition donations from meetings around the world.  This money is used to cover the monthly operating costs of GSA World Services including its Post Office box, monthly web hosting fee and Pay Pal fees (see attached June Treasury Report). This leaves a surplus of around $270 per month.  If just this surplus was put to one side to accrue for the redevelopment of the website – it would take us around 7 years to build up enough money to pay for the website with the current level of 7th tradition donations – and we’d have no money left over for any World Service Conferences.
 
If the update of the GSA website is important to you, please announce at your local meetings and Intergroups the need for extra funds to finance this vital project. Pass the pot a second time for a separate collection.
 
When making donations to GSA World Services Pay Pal account for the Website Update please make any payment reference Web Update and your group identifier. This way we can log each donation, where it came from and keep you informed of a running total - so you know where we are financially from month to month and how close we are getting to reaching our financial goal.
 
This is the only way we are going to be able to afford to update our website to the highest standards. Thank you in advance for all your support.

GSA Phone List Revived!

The International Phone List (IPL) of 800+ GreySheeters lapsed in 2015 after ten years of serving the community. Many people asked how we could make this resource available again. Thanks to GSA World Services (GSAWS), the old IPL has been transformed into the GSA Phone List and is now available on the GSA website, www.greysheet.org.

What is the GSA Phone List?

The GSA Phone List is a secure, members-only contact list for all GreySheeters in the United States and around the world. Access is by user name and password and is only available to those who join the list by providing their own contact information. Join the GSA Phone List here.

Who is on the GSA Phone List?

Over 300 committed GreySheeters have already confirmed their contact information or newly registered. More members join every day. The GSA Phone List has members in 38 US states:

 
  1. Alaska
  2. Arizona
  3. Arkansas
  4. California
  5. Colorado
  6. Connecticut
  7. Florida
  8. Georgia
  9. Hawaii
  10. Idaho
  1. Illinois
  2. Indiana
  3. Kansas
  4. Kentucky
  5. Louisiana
  6. Maine
  7. Maryland
  8. Massachusetts
  9. Michigan
  10. Missouri
  1. North Carolina
  2. Nebraska
  3. Nevada
  4. New Hampshire
  5. New Jersey
  6. New Mexico
  7. New York
  8. Ohio
  9. Oregon
  10. Pennsylvania
  1. South Carolina
  2. South Dakota
  3. Tennessee
  4. Texas
  5. Utah
  6. Vermont
  7. Virginia
  8. Washington
As well as 16 countries:
  1. Australia
  2. Bulgaria
  3. Canada
  4. England
  1. France
  2. Germany
  3. Iceland
  4. India
  1. Ireland
  2. Israel
  3. Mexico
  4. Northern Ireland
  1. Poland
  2. Slovakia
  3. Slovenia
  4. South Africa

How do GreySheeters Use the GSA Phone List?
One GreySheeter found other GSers in her country and started a video meeting to connect them all. Others have sorted the list by abstinence date and asked people with decades of abstinence to sponsor them. Others have used the list to find GSers at a destination where they are travelling to.
 
You can access the list online, on your smart phone, tablet, or laptop or you can download a copy. When you access the list online, you can sort or search by name, city, state or country, and abstinence date.

Why Join the GSA Phone List?
Join the GSA Phone List so you can:
  • Strengthen your abstinent network
  • Be of service to other GreySheeters
  • Find others in your area to start a face-to-face meeting
  • Connect with GreySheeters when you travel
Questions? PhoneList@greysheet.org 

Registered Meetings and Contact Information Updates
Please check your meeting information is up-to-date on our website. If there are any changes to this information, please let us know at webservant@greysheet.org.
 
If you are listed as a GSR or contact person for a meeting and are no longer the GSR for this meeting, please send us this information.  If the email address or contact number you gave at the time of registering your meeting has changed, please let us know.  If you do not let us know, then we cannot keep this information up to date.

Save the Date!
The Cambridge, Boston Group are having their first GSA Round Up!  It will take place on Saturday, 11 November 2017 from 10am to 4pm – in the Cambridge Health Alliance (the old Cambridge City Hospital). This is on the same campus where Sunday 5 pm meeting is held. Check www.greysheet.org/events for further updates.

Your News
If you have any news you would like to share with the fellowship about your group’s activities and public information events, please reply to sharonleighterry@gmail.com with your stories and the Communications Committee will include these in the next edition of Service Matters.  Thank you all for you service in helping to carry the message to the still suffering compulsive eater.
 

Service Matters • June 2017

GSA in Slovakia hosts its first roundup
During the last weekend of May, the Slovak Greysheeters made history. They put a lot of time, effort and hard work into organizing their first ever Round-up which was a great success! 20 beautiful, joyful and radiant Greysheeters and newcomers from Slovakia, England, Slovenia and Poland gathered in the capital city, Bratislava. They shared their stories about what it was like being in the food, what helped them to save their lives and what is it like now.
 
Members were blessed with lovely weather and sunshine. They ate their abstinent meals together in the presidential garden, chatted over tea in cosy tea rooms, shared delicious recipes, explored the city and local products and made new friendships. 3 days full of powerful qualifications from committed speakers; profound messages of abstinence; a workshop with a topic “How to stay abstinent in school, work, family, social events and how to assertive”.
 
This miraculous weekend was finished with Public Information service in nearby alcohol and drug treatment centre. As a result of the Round-up there are two new members already weighing and measuring their food with a qualified sponsor! Because service to Higher Power, our fellows and bringing the solution to other suffering compulsive eaters is what matters.
A member shares her history about the 2017 Conneticut Retreat at beautiful Incarnation Center, Ivoryton, CT 
Thanks to the strong Connecticut GSA community for another fun filled abstinent weekend at this year’s annual retreat in Ivoryton, CT during May.  This year 73 participants attended from around the USA and Ireland, with abstinence ranging from one day to several decades.   For some members, their adventure began earlier with a stopover in NY or nearby destination, warmly welcomed by another GSer.  Thanks everyone for your service and commitment to GSA, for transporting folks to and from retreat, preparing, follow-up and staying abstinent NMW.

Awesome leaders, breakout sessions, meditation, nature walks, and arts projects.  The Retreat Leaders start each session with their experience strength and hope as it related to the Step being focused on in that session. By the end we got real sense of the connection between NMW and Stepping into Solution through the 12 Steps while remembering bottom line is the focus on the food, the food, the food!!!

During the weekend I enjoyed media blackout (not a requirement), shared meals, laughter, recovery and steps with my GSA sisters and brothers.  I enjoyed connecting with folks I’ve known over the years, seeing them grow and blossom, and deal with life’s ups and downs.  Similarly, I enjoyed connecting with folks I didn’t know well and reaching out to new folks.   Others expressed similar sentiments and enjoyed our sacred time together.  As addicts in recovery, we share a common language and have an immediate bond.

The weekend ended with a delicious GS lunch (one of my 3 favourite meals), followed by the famous raffle where everyone ooo’ed and ahed to see what items folks donated and who won them.  More important than anything won, was sharing the strong GS program and fellowship.  The support we give one another is priceless. 
 
Together, WE weigh and measure 3 meals a day from the GS food plan NMW. 
GSA in Israel celebrates 20 years 
The Israeli GSA community was founded by three Israeli ladies who used to be a part of the GSA community in NYC, in GSA abstinence. They all moved back to Israel in 1997, and began to meet in private homes.  A few months later, they found a room in the special house for women in distress, in Tel-Aviv, and began to meet weekly, every Sunday night. Until the end of that year there were 5 women counting over 90 days of abstinence, and with this group - the first AWOL workshop in Israel started.
 
The groups grew bigger and spread rapidly around the country. People were thrilled, and the message caught on like fire through thorns. In 2000, the Tel-Aviv GSA groups had more than 100 active members, more groups were active in other cities, and the sound of “no matter what” was heard crystal clear.
 
Today, there are more than 36 GSA face-to-face weekly meetings around the country, 5 weekly meetings conducted over the phone, and AWOL workshops frequently opening all around.
The Israeli GSA community celebrated the 20 years' event in a mini-Roundup that had been held in Tel Aviv in March 2017 with more than 100 participants. Another mini-roundup is planned to take place in Jerusalem during the month of June.
Update your meeting contact information 
Please check your meeting information is up-to-date on our website. If there are any changed to this information, please let us know. If you are listed as a GSR or contact person for a meeting and are no longer the GSR for this meeting, please send us this information.  If you do not let us know, then we cannot keep this information up to date.  If you volunteered to be a sponsor on the Sponsors list and are no longer available to sponsor, please email the webservant@greysheet.org to let us know, so your information can be removed.  If we do not hear from you, we cannot keep this information up to date. 
Your News 
If you have any news you would like to share with the fellowship about your group’s activities and public information events, please reply to sharonleighterry@gmail.com with your stories and the Communications Committee will include these in the next edition of Service Matters.  Thank you all for you service in helping to carry the message to the still suffering compulsive eater.
  

Service Matters • May 2017

GSA YouTube attracts new members 
The brainchild of Kathy P, the South West Intergroup's (SWIG) YouTube channel is having an amazing run. Kathy's expertise in her working life prompted a suggestion that SWIG post a steady stream of GSA qualifications on YouTube.  Included with these qualifications are answers to questions as part of an outreach to those still sick and suffering compulsive eaters. The results have been more than rewarding.  Now we have over 400 subscribers to the channel. Last month alone, the channel had 1500 views of the videos -- which are sound only!
 
The SWIG YouTube screen is entirely recognizable with the GSA logo and Can't Stop Eating? highlighted in bold yellow.  We have text running on the screen with a list of twenty questions for the viewer as to whether or not they might qualify as one of us. The greysheet.org website address is always prominently displayed.
 
By group conscience, SWIG made decisions to monitor what is shared or not, to maintain the integrity of GSA and our precious weigh of life. The biggest reward has been reading shares on the Greynet or on private GSA-related groups on Facebook, where members talk about finding out about GSA through listening to these YouTube qualifications.  Members have said that they were able to identify with the shares and get help to start from the GSA website, greysheet.org. SWIG are proud to be living their primary purpose, to stay abstinent and help other compulsive eaters to achieve abstinence.
GSA Europe is growing from strength to strength
The GSA Europe Intergroup is growing from strength to strength! Group Service Representatives (GSRs), Intergroup officers and GSA members from France, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, England, Ireland and Belgium gathered together face-to-face and on Skype for the latest GSA Europe Intergroup meeting held on  Sunday, 26 March at the London Roundup.  The agenda was full with updates from officers and GSRs. Highlights included reports that Slovenian group meeting bi-monthly in Ljubljana; GSA Europe English-speaking Skype meeting on Thursdays at 8pm GMT well attended; weekly Slovakian Skype meeting on Thursdays at 630pm GMT well attended; Slovakian group planning 1st Roundup 26 to 28 May in Bratislava. Further details available on greysheet.org under Events.  Slovakian group inviting professionals from eating disorder treatment communities to attend; new Polish-speaking men’s phone meeting started on Saturdays at 8am Polish time. Contact gsaeurope@gmail.com for further information about the Polish men’s meeting. Polish group working on translating the Greysheet into Polish;  Bulgarian group meeting weekly in Sofia on Tuesdays at 7pm local time. Bulgarian group advertising GSA to local eating disorder treatment centres and hospitals.  New meeting started in Brighton, England on Thursday evenings at 6pm GMT – with 8 new members! New French speaking Skype meeting held on Monday’s at 10pm Paris time. French speaking meeting working with the recently translated French version of GSA Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.  Next GSA Europe Intergroup Retreat being held in Newmarket, England from 27 to 29 October.  Spaces filling up fast. Email gsaeurope@gmail.com for further information and booking details. £100 for 2 nights’ accommodation and 6 enormous, delicious weighed and measured Greysheet meals (Friday supper to Sunday lunch). GSA Europe Intergroup agreed to send £300 to GSA World Services. 
A Greysheeter travels to the Malibu Retreat – her story
“What a wonderful way to meet Greysheeters - at the Malibu Retreat! Yay!
 
I attended the Malibu Retreat in 2017 and 2016.  The reason that I decided to go both times was to meet other Greysheeters far and wide. This is a "WE"  program and I wanted to jump in and do what was suggested to me, and that is to get in the middle of the herd, and one of those ways is by going. My trip to Malibu,California in April 2017 was amazing! I travelled with two other Greysheeters from Houston, Texas. We arrived on the Friday and were welcomed with open arms and smiles all around.
 
We then had a weekend of yummy food that was prepared for us. No dishes to clean. That was the best part! We attended meetings, breakout sessions with specific topics to share on. People were opening up and sharing from the heart and for me this allowed me to open up as well.  I felt that I was in a safe place to share my truth.
 
We had a blast. We did a morning walk to the beach, took pictures with lots of smiles.  There was a talent show, with comedy, acting, singing and dancing.  We were entertained, that was my favourite part. The trip was worth every penny.  I got to meet other Greysheeters, exchange phone numbers to stay connected, learn from them and most of all have fun.
 
We are not a glum lot. Stephanie K, Houston, Texas.”
Update from your GSA World Service Board of Trustees
GSA World Services are working to gather suggestions from members for improvements to the greysheet.org website. if you have any suggestions, we want to hear from you by end May. Please email your suggestions for improvements to sharonleighterry@gmail.com

The Board of Trustees are continuing to ensure the maintenance of copyright and trademark of GSA both nationally and internationally.

The Board of Trustees are partnering with the Conference Committee in preparation for GSA's 2018 World Services Conference.
Your News
If you have any news you would like to share with the fellowship about your group’s activities and public information events, please reply to sharonleighterry@gmail.com with your stories and the Communications Committee will include these in the next edition of Service Matters.  Thank you all for you service in helping to carry the message to the still suffering compulsive eater.

Service Matters • February 2017

An Update from GSA World Service Following our World Service Conference held in Boston in September 2016, the fellowship's World Service committees have been working hard on agenda items raised at the conference. Below are summaries provided by the committees; Contact webadmin@greysheet.org for any additional information:

Conference Committee
Working together to plan our next World Service Conference in 2018. A majority of Group Service Representatives and Intergroup Service Representatives who attended the World Service Conference in September 2016 voted for San Francisco as the next location for our World Service Conference. Chicago came a close second. Watch this space for updates on how this planning process progresses. You can also contact the Conference Committee for further information: Cindy S, email solofreesail@gmail.com, phone (PST) 510-499-6955 and Marjorie M, email marjorie.mayerson@gmail.com, phone EST 917-864-0032.

Their next meeting is planned for this month, date to be confirmed, where they will be working to develop content, structure, scheduling, and theme. They will be discussing preliminary research into possible venue, considering costs, timing, access to city centres, etc. The committee will be looking for what is the most cost efficient and accessible for the majority of delegates. In shaping the conference schedule, the committee will be taking on-board all the suggestions made by September's delegates for improvements – particularly to improve advance communications with delegates so that they can better prepare for the conference, and clearer communications while at the conference.

Structure Committee
Currently working on creating GSA's Service Manual, based on the original draft prepared by members of previous structure committees. A Service Manual is a description of the policies and procedures that guide every aspect of the GSA program.

The committee is looking at developing the motion for secret ballot voting at the conference as opposed to a show of hands. It is also developing proposals for a more streamlined process for approving all GSA literature. All literature which is currently noted as being Conference Approved, such as the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of GSA, will be brought to the next World Service Conference to be voted on by delegates. If you would like further updates from the Structure Committee you can contact Gary G on gguttman@compuserve.com or call EST 917 721 8269.

Literature Committee
inviting the fellowship to be involved with GSA's first book of stories. They are looking for your submissions; they need your vital energy to be a part of this and make it happen. They are looking for stories that tell the history of GSA, either globally, or in your area: who, what, where, when, why, how? Anonymity will, of course, be respected. Examples of possible stories include how the Greysheet spread from Cambridge, to all four corners of the world? We want to devote a chapter to stories from young people; a chapter of stories about "the family afterwards," and what we did to rectify and affirm the family unit, work place, friendships etc, after abstinence. We want to present the Twelve Concepts, as they play out in our fellowship, and how they work in our lives as individuals - and how they intersect with the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Please send your submissions to Richard Oliver, richardso285@gmail.com or contact him on EST 424 208 4813.

Public Information Committee
If you are aware of opportunities in your community to do some public information, get in touch with this committee who will be happy to guide you in the best way to do this type of outreach. If you have any public information stories, news articles that have been generated about GSA since last year in your area, please let the public information committee know, so that they can write about your progress.

The Slovakian GSA group is holding an event from 2 – 4 June 2017. They have invited health professionals to attend this event to learn more about GSA and our programme of recovery. Details of this event can be found at www.greysheet.org/events/no-matter-what-slovakia.

Archives Committee
Working with our web page administrator and web designer to introduce new web pages sharing the vital service role of Archives. Archives will become a main link from the Home page and will be structured into nested pages by the committee. These nested pages will list any minutes produced by the committees and the World Service Board. Watch this space for updates of these changes as they happen.

Communications Committee
Working to get pages set up on the website for each Committee, listing its contact information, together with a list of dates and times of their planned meetings. If you are working on a committee, please email sharonleighterry@gmail.com with your most up-to-date committee list and meeting schedule. This will help members of our fellowship know who is representing them at this level for this term and be able to contact the committees directly for updates.

Orientation for new GSRs: members of the fellowship contacted the Communications Committee to find out if there was a simple document outlining the basic role of the Group Service Representative. While GSA's Service Manual is still being developed, the following document: http://greysheet.org/images/pdf/GSA_Introduction_to_Service_for_new_GSRs.pdf
for new GSRs has been produced and is a great read. If you have anything you would like to add to this that you think would be helpful for a new GSR to know, please contact sharonleighterry@gmail.com with your suggestions and the Communications Committee will look at including it. Pass it on. You can also find it on the website, under Literature/Public Information Literature.

Summary of World Service Conference Minutes: for your ease of reference the Communications Committee has produced a brief summary of the main motions and processes that were voted on and passed by your GSRs and ISRs. If you want further information, you can read the full Minutes from the September 2016 World Service Conference here.  

Service Matters • November 2016

What has been happening since the World Service Committee in September?

As you will have read from the list of motions and recommendations put forward by the service committees at the 2016 World Service Conference in September, each service committee has their 'plates full' of jobs that need to be done between now and the next World Service Conference in 2 years time.

These service committees are made up of members like you and me - members of this fellowship with 90 days or more of back-to-back abstinence, who are working with a sponsor who has a sponsor - and who have volunteered their time to help GSA carry the message to the compulsive eater.

An Update from the Literature Committee

The literature committee is the committee who are working on pieces of GSA literature which the fellowship is using to communicate our program of recovery to our members and to those who are still suffering and who may be searching for a solution.

If you have editing, writing, organisation skills and experience, please contact the chair of this committee, Richard O, richardso285@gmail.com, +1 (424) 208-4813. This service committee needs your support. Our literature cannot write itself.

The committee are currently working to finalize the pamphlets "To Professionals" and "A Solution for Compulsive Eating". An announcement will be made when they are available for download from the Literature section on our website. Remember to visit this link to order your copy of GSA's Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

The Literature committee are also collecting stories from members for the next GSA book to include a chapter on the History of GSA, the Family Afterwards, the Potential 18-34 year old Compulsive Eater, the Traditions and Concepts at Work. Please email your stories to richardso285@gmail.com, or call to chat on +1 (424) 208-4813. The literature committee meets via phone every Sunday at 3:30pm EST. You're welcome to join. Contact Richard O for phone meeting number.

An Update from the Communication Committee

Please contact sharonleighterry@gmail.com with any ideas for topics of service you would like to read about in this newsletter; email us with any service-related questions you would like answers to – and these will be published in the next edition of Service Matters.

If you have 90 days or more of back-to-back Greysheet abstinence, are social media-savvy, understand privacy settings on Facebook - the communications committee needs your help to finalize GSA's "Using Social Media Safely Guidelines". Please email sharonleighterry@gmail.com if you can help.

GSA Events

Check the website for the latest GSA Events coming up. A February Queens NY Roundup is being planned. Dates to be confirmed.

Register Your Group/Change Group Information

If you have not done so already, please make sure you register your group on our website at Face-to-Face Meetings/Group Registration Form.

If you have registered your group, take a moment to check your group information. It is your responsibility to make sure your information is correct. This is to ensure that newcomers and regular members get the correct information they need to attend your groups – and that your group service representative gets updates from GSA World Services to bring to your group. Please email any changes to your group information to webservant@greysheet.org.

International Phone List

Members that elect to be added to the list may email phonelist@greysheet.org. If you want to unsubscribe from this list or your information has changed, you need to email phonelist@greysheet.org in order to do this. It is your responsibility to ensure that information is correct for subscribers. For example, if you are no longer available to sponsor, please make sure you email phonelist@greysheet.org to let them know – so that your record can be updated. This list is as up-to-date as the information it receives. When you as a sponsor are directing newcomers to these resources, please let them know that not all this information will be perfectly up-to-date and that when they come across numbers that are no longer working or members who tell them they are no longer members of GSA – to please email phonelist@greysheet.org with these updates. This is the only way this list can be kept current.

Sponsors List

If you volunteered to put your name down as a sponsor on the sponsor list on the website, please check that your information is still up-to-date. If you are no longer available to sponsor and want your name removed from this list, please email webservant@greysheet.org with this information and your name will be removed. It is your responsibility to let us know when this information changes, so that we can make sure this information is as up-to-date for the newcomer as possible.

International Contacts List

If you submitted your email address as a contact person in your country for international visitors to reach when they are travelling, please check your information is still up-to-date. If you are no longer the contact person in your country for visitors, then please email webservant@greysheet.org with these updates. Step up to service – this is your time to make history too! 
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