START A MEETING

FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU!

We are glad you are thinking about starting an EDA meeting.  It is not an easy task, often requiring much patience and persistence, but it is worth it.  Careful effort put into sharing our honest experience, strength and hope pays terrific dividends.  Such effort helps us recognize, celebrate and deepen our recovery. 

EDA meetings can only be started and run by EDA members. Once a group is formed it must follow our primary purpose, which states "Our primary purpose is to recover from our eating disorders and to carry this message of recovery to others with eating disorders." You are a member of EDA the moment you decide to join. No one is excluded from EDA as long as they have an eating disorder and a desire to recover. As stated in Tradition 3, "The only requirement for E.D.A. membership is a desire to recover from an eating disorder." Any two or three EDA members gathered together for the purpose of recovery may call themselves an EDA group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation. If you have no experience in other 12-step programs you may find it very helpful to attend an EDA on-line or phone meeting prior to starting a new group. EDA is guided by its 12 Traditions. Please read the Traditions prior to starting your group.

Have questions about starting a meeting?
Ask info@eatingdisordersanonymous.org. One of EDA’s volunteer support staff will respond as soon as possible.

Steps to getting a meeting started:

1. Get the EDA Meeting Starter Kit of documentation.  Either download the files [click literature] from this web site (free) or send a $15 check or money order payable to "EDA" to: 

   General Service Board of EDA, Inc.
   P.O. Box 55876
   Phoenix, AZ 85078-5876 

1. All EDA brochures and publications are included in this kit. 
   You may copy these materials freely. 
   
   EDA suggests giving materials free of charge to local professionals who treat people with eating disorders, requesting EDA members make a voluntary contribution of 35 cents per copy to defray the cost of carrying the message of recovery to others with eating disorders (EDA's 5th Tradition).

2. Review suggestions for starting a new meeting in the EDA Meeting Guide (included in the EDA Meeting Starter Kit).
3. Locate a facility to hold the meeting.  Public libraries are often available for meetings. 
4. Pick a time and day of week for the meeting. 
5. Let EDA's support staff  know about your meeting.  Please contact wm@eatingdisordersanonymous.org  with the information so we can put it on our  "EDA Meetings"  web page.
6. Make up flyers.
7. Contact local therapists, nutritionists, treatment facilities and newspapers about your meeting.  Please be careful to share information without "promoting" EDA.  It is easy to get overzealous.  Our program is based on attraction, not promotion, but it is essential to "carry the message".  Half of EDA's primary purpose is to carry the message of recovery to others with eating disorders.  When we share information about meetings and about our own experience, strength and hope we are doing just that.      
8. Call your friends and let them know about the meeting. 

Be patient!
It sometimes takes great perseverance to get a new meeting up and running. 
Don't lose heart.  You are not alone.  

EDA's primary purpose is to recover from our eating disorders and to carry this message of recovery to others with eating disorders. In carrying the message of recovery, EDA incurs expenses such as web hosting (we developed our own site), brochure and document duplication, and mailing costs. We meet such expenses through voluntary contributions from EDA groups and members.

Once your group gets going, EDA suggests you hold a business meeting to elect a General Service Representative to carry information to and from EDA’s central office, a Treasurer to collect 7th Tradition funds and pay the rent, and a Literature Representative to make copies of EDA literature available at meetings.  Once your group has established a prudent reserve of 2-3 months rent, it should decide (by group conscience vote) what to do with the surplus, bearing in mind that each group’s purpose is to carry the message of recovery. 

We suggest a percentage of the surplus be sent to EDA’s central office to help fund public information dissemination, web site and future hotline support.  A 7th Tradition contribution form is included in the Meeting Starter Kit.  We suggest the balance be used to carry the message of recovery to others with eating disorders in your local community, setting up a local EDA service office and hotline or whatever group conscience dictates.   

Good luck, and let us know how you're doing!