An Evening for Dr. Bob’s Home: A Brief History
How often do two people come up with the same idea at the same moment? All I know is that
it is rare and magical. My sponsor, Alan, and I looked at each other after the 2011 Founders’ Day celebrations in Akron and said, “we need to host a fundraiser to end all fundraisers,” and so began An Evening for Dr. Bob’s Home. We spoke about almost nothing else for the next few weeks. We were excited about raising awareness and money for the organization, not only for every member to have a place to call home, but because it operates as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. We wanted Dr. Bob’s Home to stay as beautiful as it was forever! And we were really excited about finding fantastic speakers who loved Dr. Bob’s Home as much as we did.
The idea of engaging the speakers before doing anything else was based on nothing more than numbers. Who would draw a big crowd? And we both knew right away the two people who would up for the job! Alan did not hesitate; he got right on the phone with Gail L. and then immediately after with Mel B. Gail, with her brilliant presentation and fabulous personality and Mel , so well-known for his illuminating talk on the people and places that comprise the history of Alcoholics Anonymous and his funny stories would knock everyone’s socks off.
After securing the speakers we had a long brainstorming session. How would we pay for the event? Would we offer to cover the travel expenses for the speakers? What kind of event did we want this to be? What kind of venue would we need and how many people would it need to hold? How do we let our community know about it? Should we sell tickets in advance or at the door? How much should we charge? So many questions loomed in front of us, but we did not let that slow us down. And, as it turned out, none of it was as difficult as we expected!
We quickly decided that we wanted a space with a stage, like a theater. Long Island isn’t exactly known for having multiple theaters available to rent. After doing a little research, Alan came up with the idea of using a school auditorium, and from there it was easy. The place was Wisdom Lane Hall, the auditorium for Wisdom Lane Middle School in Levittown. The auditorium could seat up to 600 people, and we were almost certain we could fill it. The school helped us to understand what we needed to rent the space: a signed agreement and a certificate of insurance. They provided the agreement and we bought a single-use certificate of insurance (you can get them online now).
So, now that we had a date, a space, and speakers it was time to spread the word. With an AA community filled with people who yearned to do service, spreading the word wasn’t hard. People from all over the area helped us. We had friends designing flyers and others distributing them. Someone offered to design the tickets and introduced us to someone who would print them. We were off to the races!
The response was huge! People from all over Long Island were calling us to buy tickets in advance. We realized that answered our concerns over the cost of things! Part of ticket sales would have to go into the event costs. So we worked out the total cost of the event and how much we would need per person to cover those costs and figured out a ticket price that would then allow us to give a generous gift to Dr. Bob’s Home after the event. We were advised to keep a separate account for the money we raised from ticket sales. We agreed! So I asked for help at the bank I already used (it’s amazing what great things can happen when you ask for help and take suggestions).
Word was out and ticket sales were through the roof! We needed to keep all the information organized. A friend offered to help keep records in an Excel workbook. Worked like a charm! The only thing left to do was organize the evening itself. The format of the evening was simple: open the doors to the lobby an hour before the main event so people could mingle and chat, open the doors to auditorium 15 minutes before we planned to begin. The main event would open with an introduction from me and Alan as Ambassadors followed by a brief address by a representative of the Dr. Bob Home’s organization. Then it was time for the first speaker. We planned a 15-minute intermission between speakers after which I introduced the second speaker.
So many members offered to help us with the day-of duties. We had greeters at the front doors saying, “Welcome Home,” and others who checked tickets. We hung posters with photos of Dr. Bob’s Home throughout the lobby. We served coffee, tea, and cookies, and we were really lucky to have a member who worked for a deli donate loads of donuts! There were people who offered to act as ushers and others who offered to help with sound. With so many willing and able volunteers we knew it would be a great night. And, indeed, the event was a resounding success! I would call it a miracle, but the success was down to the dedication of the many members who committed themselves to showing up and doing the work. The miracle was the miracle of AA working through all those people.
The journey from that first “Evening for Dr. Bob’s Home” in 2012 to its finale in 2024 was wild and wonderful! Not every event went perfectly. We had AV problems more than once, a fire alarm went off because of a birthday cake, a speaker canceled at the last minute, and there was reason to call an ambulance once. But if you know AA members like we do, you know that nothing could deter us. In the 12 years we hosted the event, not only did we learn a lot, but we also made lifelong friendships with people we may never have met otherwise.
If you want to host an event like this, but you feel hesitant, please reach out to us. Alan and I are always here to help with advice and suggestions or just to brainstorm. Hosting An Evening for Dr. Bob’s Home (or maybe An Afternoon for Dr. Bob’s Home) is something we know you can do, because we did it and we had never done it before! You also have us and we are here to help in any way we can.
To speak to Alan or Richard anytime for guidance or advice please contact our Ambassador Chair, Sheryl at sherylryan@drbobshome.org for their contact information.