Contribute

Our Seventh Tradition states that Overeaters Anonymous “ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.” While no fees or dues are required for membership, OA members have a responsibility to keep our rooms open, provide opportunities for fellowship, and spread our message of recovery.

To know the true freedom of recovery is to know that we can make sensible and necessary financial contributions to OA at all levels, and that this investment in our Fellowship ensures we can continue to carry the message to the still-suffering compulsive overeater inside and outside our rooms.

When the Seventh Tradition collection comes around, do we remember how much we could be spending if we were bingeing instead of attending an OA meeting? Do we remember all the money we spent on weight-loss programs that didn’t work? OA, too, requires income to be a viable organization.

Experience has shown that recovery in OA is far more important and lifesaving than the debilitating disease of compulsive overeating. As long as we keep the Seventh Tradition, paying our own way from our own pockets, we earn the respect of the public and self-respect as well.

-- Reprinted from the OA brochure "Seventh Tradition of OA"