Our Twelfth Step states: “Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” The Capital District Central Office offers many service opportunities for AA members to help other alcoholics.
Volunteer Your Time
The CDCO is open Mondays – Saturdays, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and on Sundays, from noon to 4:00 p.m. AA volunteers staff the office in two shifts each day: one, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and the second, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The Sunday four-hour shift is covered by one person. At the end of each day, the Central Office phone gets “rolled over” to a “Night Owl,” who answers the phone from 7:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m., on Sundays) until 11:00 a.m. the next day, when the phone gets transferred back to the Office. This system ensures that a “live” person answers the phone, 24/7.
Most of the people who call the Central Office are looking for AA meetings in the Capital District area, but many have questions about meetings throughout New York State and beyond. Others are calling to inquire about other 12-Step programs, while still others call on behalf of a family member or friend. It’s the occasional call from someone who cannot stop drinking that makes service with the Central Office most rewarding.
Volunteers who staff the CDCO also have the opportunity to greet and talk with individuals who drop in just to visit the office or to buy AA Conference-approved literature stocked there.
All volunteers receive training on suggested ways to answer the phone, where to find different kinds of information, and Central Office guidelines on what we can and cannot do. There are also written procedures and guides, and lists of local AA members who are available to take people to meetings or talk with them over the phone.
AA members who may not be able to work in the office or serve as a Night Owl can help in another way, by making themselves available for the direct Twelfth-Step work we do, like giving rides to meetings or talking with newcomers by phone or over coffee.
If you think you might be interested, send an email to manager@aaalbanyny.org, or call 463-0906.
Become a Central Office Representative
The CDCO serves the AA Groups in the Capital District area. A Group’s Central Office Representative (“COR”) is the link between the Group and the CDCO, much like the Group’s General Service Representative (“GSR”) is the link between the Group and the District/AA as a whole. The COR represents the Group at the regular Central Office meeting which is held at the CDCO at 7:00 pm on the third Tuesday of every month. It is at that Central Office meeting where Groups can express their needs and concerns about the CDCO, and where important decisions about the Office and its operation, are made. If you think you might be interested in becoming your Group’s COR, contact the CDCO chairperson at manager@aaalbanyny.org, or call 463-0906, for suggestions.
Make a Financial Contribution
In keeping with AA’s Seventh Tradition of self-support, the Capital District Central Office, as an AA service entity, depends on contributions from the Groups it serves to operate. The Central Office has monthly bills to pay for the rent for its office, the phone service, and the listing in the phone directory. Before the Central Office was set up, responsibilities for the AA phones fell to the Districts in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Troy. Part of the Groups’ contributions to those Districts paid for each District’s phone service. The CDCO now looks to the Groups to participate in the financial support of the Office and the phone service it provides. AA’s pamphlet on Self – Support provides suggestions to Groups on how they can split up their contributions to their Central Office, and to the District, the Area and GSO in New York.
The CDCO also accepts contributions from individual AA members. All contributions should be made out to: “Capital District Central Office,” and sent to Suites 128-130, 575 Broadway, Menands, NY 12204.
