A Dozen Steps

They Gave Of Themselves

by Mark on August 2nd, 2006

Therein lies the “secret.”

I love the information I find in Bill W’s writings in “The Language Of The Heart.” In June of 1947 (pg. 57), Bill wrote “Lack Of Money Proved AA Boon.”

He explains the history of how the “Alcoholic Foundation” came about. In the fall of 1937 he and Dr. Bob had put together a plan which would enable the thousands of alcoholics without the answer to know of the “good news” of recovery!

The basics were, they would be sending missionaries across the land to establish new “AA Centers,” there would be hospitals in both Akron and New York where they could “spray” excellent medical care and high-powered spirituality on drunks, and they’d have a book.

“But it surely looked, in 1937, as though we must have considerable money. Did we not already have (in prideful imagination) the beginning of one of the greatest social, medical, and spiritual developments of all time? How easy to raise money for such a cause as ours!”

They were in for a shock as Bill quickly points out - “The awakening from that money dream was rude. It soon appeared that people with money had little interest in drunks.”

Having become discouraged, there came a day when Bill had joined “Whiners Anonymous” and was “bemoaning, in typical alcoholic fashion, how little we poor drunks were appreciated” to his physician brother-in-law. Non-coincidentally, Leonard knew someone who knew someone and in the winter of 1937, at Rockefeller Center, there was a meeting attended by Bill, Dick Richardson (the liason with John D. Rockefeller Jr.), A. LeRoy Chipman, Albert Scott, Frank Amos, the B-I-L Leonard Strong, Dr. Bob and Paul S. (from Akron). Also attending were “a half-dozen New York ex-topers” and Dr. Silkworth.

They told their AA stories and then pleaded for money. Then, as Bill puts it, “Came one more turn in AA destiny.” Albert Scott, the chairman of the meeting, spoke up with understanding (he had been moved by their talks) and said “Shouldn’t we be most careful not to do anything which might lead to a professional or propertied class within your ranks?”

The next words from Bill are: “These were great words for Alcoholics Anonymous.”

From this meeting came the foundation of folks who eventually put the original Foundation Trust agreement together but, I believe more importantly, came what Bill said next;

“Disappointed that our hope of substantial money help seemed to be fading, we confessed, nevertheless, that we had often had such misgivings. But, we persisted, what are we going to do?”

“Finally, our friends agreed that something needed to be done. But they did continue to insist our movement ought never be professionalized. This struck the keynote of our relation to these men of goodwill for all the years since. Rightly enough, they have never secured us large sums of money. But each has given of himself to our cause, generously and continuously; how much, few AAs can ever know.”

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POSTED IN: The 12 Steps