Southern California Intergroup of Nicotine Anonymous
INTRODUCTIONS: Angela P. called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM with the Serenity Prayer followed by introductions.
WAS YOUR MEETING REPRESENTED? A quorum was met. The following meetings were represented: 012, 023, 047, 076, 185, 229, 231, 241, 268, 273, and 276.
CHAIRPERSON REPORT: John is cleaning up our agenda to make it look a little more professional.
TRADITIONS: Tradition #12. “Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities” was read.
TREASURER REPORT: Beginning balance $172.60. Income: The November Gratitude Marathon Meetings[1] brought in $287.00 for SCINA (see details below), and for that we are truly grateful. 7th Tradition of $24 was collected at the Intergroup meeting in November (Total incoming $311). We also received a $25 PayPal donation from Kathleen M., Joshua Tree, (Thank You!) but this has not been transferred to our checking account yet. Expenses: Bank Fee $3; Secretary expenses $26.40; Registrar expenses were $31.49; PO Box Rental $45. (Total outgoing $105.89) Ending balance $377.71. SCINA also received a $3,000 check from Stephen F., which will be deposited into our savings account so we can avoid the increased $16 monthly Bank of America fee[2]. SCINA thanks Stephen F. very much!!! The report was moved and approved.
REGISTRAR REPORT: No Changes made to Administration List. Meeting 231, Phone Contact #1 information updated. Meeting 268, Meeting Address Changed, and Secretary e-mail updated.
No Meetings were added. Meeting 225, Wednesday at 7:00 pm, in Downey was removed. All Meetings except for #59, #197, and #229 have USPS contact through their Secretary, their Representative, or e-mail. 200 directories and 54 envelopes were printed.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
HOSPITALS AND INSTITUTIONS: Vee K. of the Studio City mtg. has offered to be the Chairperson for H&I. We hope to hear an update from him soon. 818-660-3315 if you have a contact for him to add
COMMUNICATIONS: Our phone angels received some calls from around the country and George O. called them back to get them information to contact World Services to find a meeting.
LITERATURE: Marty said he did not place an order so we are a little low on some items. We are currently out of stock on The Year of Miracles.
WORLD SERVICES: Gary M. reported: (1) The new website is almost ready and we will make an announcement when it is fully functioning. (2) Websites likewww.recovery.org/topics/about-the-smokers-anonymous-12-step-recovery-program this one and others are using or implying they are a part of NicA. World Services (WS) is trying to get them to stop doing this as it is giving a wrong perception of who we are. WS has written letters to get them to desist using our name. Number one we are not Smokers Anonymous, and number two the 12 steps they list are not our steps. There are a couple others that are doing this and one is promoting nicotine replacement therapy (NRTs) as well. What to do if they don't stop using our name, WS isn't sure just yet. We don’t have the funds to hire attorneys so it’s a wait and see attitude for the moment. (3) All is going well with the San Francisco 2015 WSC, but we need people to register ($35). The hotel cost is actually pretty reasonable at $99/night including breakfast. Please let all know. The Nicotine Anonymous World Service Conference will be held April 25-27th in San Francisco. Details and the flyer can be found at www.nicotine-anonymous.org as well as www.QuitNowLA.com (4) There is a telephone free bridge Marathon on New Years that is posted on the NicA website. I am going to attend the 2pm meeting as a speaker. The flyer is posted under What's New.
EVENTS: Thanks to Joseph W. for organizing and setting up the 10th annual SCINA Marathon Meeting at Calvary Baptist Church in Bellflower. This is a follow-up on the Great American SmokeOut which is always the 3rd Thursday of November. Our next event is the 2015 Retreat. Jane H. has reserved the weekend of June 27-28 so mark your calendars. Remember, we have free business cards at the Intergroup meeting. Come and get them. All events happen because of our volunteers who are of service to this program and to you. Please think about volunteering or going to some of these events this year. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know people from other meetings.
NEW MEETINGS: No new meetings.
PUBLIC OUTREACH: January is Carry The Message Month, please ask your members to get the word out.
SPEAKERS BUREAU: Call Angela P. (949) 302-8465 if you would be like to join the speakers list.
BY-LAWS: No report.
WEB CZAR: No report.
OLD BUSINESS: No old business.
NEW BUSINESS: No new business.
BIRTHDAYS: Alan C. celebrates 14 years, Frank S. celebrates 16 years, Lisa C. celebrates a birthday, and Emil celebrates 25 years this month.
SECRETARY REPORT: The December report was read and approved as we did have a quorum.
CLOSING PRAYER: Vee led us in the Serenity Prayer at 10:49 AM.
[1] Marathon Details: Group #250 (9 – 10 am) $11; Group #12 (10 – 11 am ) $15; Meeting #23 (11 am – 12 pm) $30; Meeting #76 (12 – 1 pm) $26; Meeting #275 (1 – 2 pm) $70; Meeting #22 (2 – 3 pm) $19; Group #257 (3 – 4 pm) $13; Group #229 (4 – 5 pm) $7; Group #LaMonte Culver Group (5 – 6pm) $11; Group #274 (6 – 7) pm $20; Group #84 (7– 8 pm) $27; Group #185 (8– 9 pm) $25. Literature sold, 1 book = $12. Total $307 – $20 paid for expenses = $287 deposits. Thanks to all the meetings!
[2] As a reminder, last month the Bank of America sent a letter to all business accounts notifying of a $16 monthly fee for all accounts without a minimum daily balance of $3,000. (We currently pay a $3 monthly fee.) An attendee offered to loan SCINA $3,000 to defer the BoA bank fees for the duration of his life (which would need to be returned to his heirs upon his demise) or upon his request so that we can stay at Bank of America. The group took a vote on whether to accept the loan, and it was approved.
