Service Matters • March 2022

Service Matters – Our World Service Newsletter

Monday, 07 March 2022

Welcome to the March 2022 issue of Service Matters, your answer to the question, “What’s Up in GreySheet?” regarding all the work done for GSA as a whole to carry the message to compulsive eaters who still suffer.

Ahh, March.

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade….”

Charles Dickens

Spring is coming. Just… Not… Quite… Yet… And with this promise of spring comes the idea of getting ready for Spring. And what better way to start than with the idea of suiting up and showing up for this amazing GS program just a little bit more? What about a renewed participation in service during March, the month that’s such a tantalizing prelude to Spring?

What did you do when you first got abstinent? What lengths did you go to? What can you start doing to enhance your program and the GS solution as a whole? You can start small, with an extra outreach call or two… Perhaps attend an extra meeting or go to a meeting you’ve never been to before and speak up, share your experience, strength, and hope… (remember that just showing up at meetings, being abstinent, and opening your mouth are all ways of doing service!) Say “yes” to any invitation to speak or qualify at a meeting… Volunteer to lead a meeting… Volunteer to book a meeting... Purchase one of our new pieces of literature – and read it! Contribute to your home meeting’s treasury… Join a GS committee… It may not be Spring quite yet, but there are plenty of opportunities to start getting ready for it – so go for it!

Upcoming Meetings

All Interested GreySheeters Welcome!

Each of these meetings is an opportunity to expand your recovery by learning more about the framework that guides our work together. If you’re a delegate, you’ll want to clear your calendar and attend each of these meetings. This is how we get essential information and guidance for giving our best to the groups we serve.

Committees Connecting meeting ID: 663 470 166 on Sunday, March 13, Noon ET
Concept 5 meeting ID: 791 453 380 on Sunday, March 20 at 1:00 PM ET
Tradition 5 meeting ID: 791 453 380 on Sunday, March 27 at 1:00 PM ET

Town Hall Report

The Board of Trustees held our quarterly Town Hall on Sunday January 30^th.

Town Halls are an opportunity for the fellowship to meet and ask questions of the Board of Trustees. At least a third of the trustees attend each Town Hall. This time we also met our new Group Registrar. She announced the launch of our new Group Registration form https://update.greysheet.org/groups/group-registration-form Groups which register by February 28^th will have their meetings appear in the new Meeting Calendar set to launch March 1^st.

The chair of the Personal Safety Committee presented updated guidance for sponsors and groups to protect newcomers. It can be found here: https://www.greysheet.org/world-services/board-of-trustees.

Our assistant treasurer reported that GSA World Services received $50K in Seventh Tradition donations in 2021, exceeding our goal by $8K. Detailed reports showing donations by intergroup area by individuals, groups, and intergroups are here: https://www.greysheet.org/world-services/board-of-trustees/treasury-reports

We reviewed the implications of four of the 14 major resolutions adopted by WSC2021. More information about two of those is in the Liaison Report. Two more to come each month.

You can stay up to date on the Board of Trustees activity with our minutes published every month here: https://www.greysheet.org/world-services/board-of-trustees

We also publish the minutes of the monthly meeting of the WSC Committee Chairs and the Intergroup Service Representatives. The Chairs/ISRs are currently considering three committee proposals. Be sure to let your Group Service Representative or Intergroup Service Representative know what you think about them!

Conducting GSA Census (Structure Committee)
Traditions and Concepts Meetings (Communication Committee) amendment to registering in advance and adding 30 minutes Q&A
Start Up Sponsor Team (Communication Committee) amendment to increase abstinence requirement to one year

Board of Trustees Column

Hello, my name is Joyce and I’m a compulsive overeater. I weigh and measure three meals a day from the GreySheet, call it into my sponsor, don’t eat between meals no matter what and abstinence is the most important thing in my life without exception. My abstinence date is March 24, 1997.

Since October 2019, I’ve had the honor and privilege to serve on the Board of Trustees as Treasurer. As I sit down to write this column, I can’t help but think about my experiences in doing service at the World Service level and recount the ways that it has enriched my life. First, I’d like to start with this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. It captures the heart of what serving as Treasurer means for me:

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived well.”

Doing service gives my GSA life purpose. It provides me a way to be of use in the fellowship. It’s an opportunity to do my part to pay it forward, to ensure that the GSA fellowship is thriving and available for the next person in need. It’s compassionate because only a compulsive eater can know firsthand the painful consequences of this disease and have the passion to work for the recovery of someone else.

My role is a support role, meaning I provide support for the work being done by many dedicated GreySheeters in the fellowship. Specifically, I collect donations, record them, pay bills, prepare financial reports, develop, and monitor the budget and facilitate annual reviews for transparency. These things ensure that the finances are in place so our work can happen. Others are doing the actual work of developing and maintaining our website, writing and publishing literature, getting the message out worldwide via social media, organizing the next world service conference, developing a podcast, developing a structure of policies and procedures for our fellowship to pass on to future generations, archiving our documents to capture our history for posterity, getting out communications for the fellowship, and finding, asking, and nominating new people for service positions.

Service has helped me work my program. We all know that “you have to give it away in order to keep it.” Doing service helps me stay out of self-centeredness, self-sufficiency, and isolation. It keeps me in the middle of the herd and not an observer. As one who has struggled to reach out by phone to others, it’s given me a way to break the ice. When I face a challenge, a “no matter what,” I am not alone. I am connected to people in the fellowship by being active in service.

There are needs and opportunities for service at the World Service level. You can read about some of them in this issue of Service Matters. Please consider getting involved in service at the World Service level by contacting president@greysheet.org. You can also contact any of the committee chairs to offer your services. Here’s a list of contact emails:

GreySheeters Anonymous World Services

Share the Vision Monthly Board of Trustees Liaison Report,

February 20th, 2022

Whenever anyone, anywhere realizes they have a problem with food, they think of GreySheet.

How to Implement Resolutions Adopted at World Service Conference 2021. Each month we will summarize how two resolutions affect each of us.

Resolution 8. GreySheet Disclaimer & Distribution
1. Board of Trustees will add the following text to the GreySheet and make only that version available for digital distribution:
  
  This document does not represent the entirety of the GreySheet food plan, which can only be provided by a qualified sponsor with 90 days of back-to-back GreySheet abstinence.
  
  GSA is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims all liability for, damages of any kind arising out of the use, reference to, or reliance on any information contained in this document.
  
  This document is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced, republished, or distributed, in whole or in part, without the express written consent from GSA. www.greysheet.org
2. Current version of GreySheet still may NOT be distributed electronically (photocopied, photographed, scanned, emailed, or texted).
3. Purchase hard copy GreySheets from your intergroup. Email ISR. Find your ISR https://www.greysheet.org/intergroup/current-intergroups
4. Intergroups purchase hard copy GreySheets from foodplan@greysheet.org
Resolution 9. Use of A.A. Intellectual Property
1. The only A.A. material we have permission to reprint is Preamble, Steps, Traditions, Concepts, and the excerpt referred to as “the promises.”
2. We can adapt the Preamble, Steps, Traditions, Concepts with GSA language.
3. We must include the A.A. original and the appropriate attribution statement on the same page.
4. The promises must be reproduced as written in the BB, i.e., not listed, or enumerated.
5. All written adaptations of Steps, Traditions, Concepts, Preamble, AND the GreySheet Group Purpose use the term “compulsive eater” rather than “compulsive overeater.” Individuals may refer to themselves however they choose.
6. Each group may decide which version of the Preamble they will reproduce in their written materials, “GSA is a fellowship of men and women…” or “GSA is a fellowship of people…”
7. We do not have permission to use the A.A. responsibility or A.A. unity statements or the BB quote from Chapter 2 Page 17, “We have discovered a common solution, …”

Group Registration Update

Congratulations to all the amazing GSA Group trusted servants who registered their groups by the February 28^th deadline! 82% of the groups (122 of 149) have registered.

Here’s the breakdown by intergroup:

Connecticut	5/5
Europe	13/13
Iceland	5/8
Israel	13/19
Midwest	4/4
New York Metro	20/28
Northeast	9/9
Phone Bridge	27/37
Southern States	15/15
Western States	11/11

We found out about 15 groups that had dissolved and we registered 17 groups we had no previous record for. Our records are in much better shape. The most exciting part is that our web professional is loading the meetings into our new Meeting Calendar right now. We will soon have a searchable calendar where all In Person, Zoom, Skype, Phone Bridge, and Phone meetings can be found in one place.

Thanks for all your work. If you haven’t yet registered your group, here’s the link: https://www.update.greysheet.org/groups/group-registration-form

More information: Secretary@greysheet.org

GreySheeters Anonymous World Services

2022 Direct 7th Tradition Donations Target - $42,000

GreySheet Service Opportunities

Start Up Sponsor
Start Up Sponsor (SUS) Team has been working for the past two years to help the compulsive eater who still suffers. Start Up Sponsors work one-on-one with individuals who are ready to start their GreySheet abstinence. Training is provided for all new Start Up Sponsors so that the information we give is the same. Using the Start Up Sponsor Guidelines, you help the newcomer to know what is and is not abstinent on the GreySheet and help them plan the next 3 meals and take their food up to a few days, while they use the list of qualified food sponsors you provide to find a permanent sponsor. This initial contact takes about one hour. Once a newcomer has a sponsor, the startup sponsor becomes available to help another newcomer. Service on the Start Up Sponsor Team is a one-year service commitment. If you’re interested in this service position, please follow this link and complete registration form. Start Up Sponsor Registration

Board Secretary
Your Board of Trustees has an unexpected opening for the position of Secretary. The Secretary of the Board of Trustees is a critical member of the board as she or he records the minutes of the monthly Board of Trustees meetings which provide a record of our decision making. We publish those minutes for full transparency to our fellowship: https://www.greysheet.org/world-services/board-of-trustees.

The Secretary is a trustee, i.e., the requirement is five years of back to back GreySheet abstinence and the term of office is three years. If you or anyone you know is qualified and interested, please contact Grainne, Chair - Board of Trustees at President@greysheet.org or Linda, Chair - Nominating Committee at Nominating@greysheet.org. We will be happy to answer your questions.

Note Taker
The Note Taker records attendance and main points of discussion at the monthly Committees Connecting World Service meeting. One year abstinence/one year term. 2 hours a month. If interested, please email Grainne, Chair – Board of Trustees at greysheet@greysheet.org.