Helping Hands Contributions
Give a 'Helping Hand' for someone who wants to go to the conference but can't afford it.
The purpose is to ensure that anyone who wants to benefit from the recovery and support available at these events is able to participate, regardless of financial constraints. This embodies the spirit of mutual support and fellowship central to A.A.'s mission.
In keeping with A.A.'s Seventh Tradition of self-supporting, we accept contributions only from A.A. and Al-Anon members.
Online Contribution
Why is it called, "Helping Hands"?
-
The idea behind the phrase comes straight from A.A.’s earliest writings — the Big Book and later Traditions — which repeatedly frame recovery as “one alcoholic helping another” and stress voluntary self-support. That wording is the conceptual root.
-
By the 1950s A.A.’s fellowship publications were already using the phrase “Helping Hands” (as a title/heading and as a descriptive phrase) — e.g., items in the A.A. Grapevine and A.A. newsletters from the mid-1950s onward show “Helping Hands” in use. This shows the phrase was circulating inside the fellowship by that era.
-
G.S.O. and A.A. literature commonly use the image of a “helping hand” (Responsibility Statement / public info materials) and instruct groups to be self-supporting and to “carry the hand of A.A.” — language that makes “Helping Hands” a natural, attractive label for money/time given to help other members. But you won’t find “Helping Hands Contributions” listed as an official, uniform G.S.O. program or required terminology. It’s rhetorical/grassroots rather than a formal GSO policy name.
-
The exact phrase “Helping Hands Contributions” appears most commonly in local/event contexts (conference scholarship funds, intergroup outreach, group names and local service committees). That pattern repeats at many intergroups, meetings and event sites.
Our Statement of Responsibility
I am responsible.
When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be there.
And for that I am responsible.
