by Cheryl DePaolo
which is housed in one of the St. John's University buildings one block from the pit and directly across the
street from the Salvation Army Florida Kitchen where we were pulling the night shift. The only Ladies' Room
was in this building, and we had to walk through foot wash basins before entering the building. It is an
amazing site, set up hurriedly but now containing many wonderful services for the rescue and service
workers still toiling around the clock at Ground Zero and in the surrounding buildings.
As we entered the building, there was the familiar sign, the AA logo. It read "AA, Room 231, open 24
hours". I was intrigued. I had never considered that there would be meetings here, although I had feared
that many of the family members, displaced workers, rescue workers and others effected by the World
Trade Center would be developing drug and alcohol problems in a few very short months. This very night
a rescue worker had complained to me that even after drinking a bottle of Scotch he could not forget the
sights he had seen, and in fact didn't feel drunk at all. In addition, there had to be numerous rescue and
service workers in recovery from alcoholism through the 12 Steps of AA, as there are in every occupation.
We toured the building, and eventually came upon room 231. Sure enough, there were AA members there,
although no formal meeting was in progress. The members present welcomed us warmly. The room was
obviously a classroom. Above the blackboard was a wooden sign, similar to countless dozens across the
country, with the name of the group carefully seared onto it: Ground Zero AA. It looked as if it could have
been hanging there for years, although it couldn't have been any more than 6 weeks old!
The blackboard was covered with literally hundreds of names of Friends of Bill that had stopped in here,
and some had added where they were from, including far-flung states and countries around the globe. We
were invited to add our names to the board, and we did so with great gusto, although we really had to
squeeze to fit them in. There was a posted schedule of suggested meeting times, assigned chairpersons
for the meetings, and a good supply of all the usual literature. Oh, and of course, the coffeepot! That made
it official!
A member shared with us a passage from an AA book that he felt God had led him to read that day. At first
he did not think the passage was relevant, and he was somewhat disappointed. However, as he read on,
the passage talked about the great fellowship of believers and how even those alcoholics who have died
are part of the legacy of the program! He was so touched to find this passage, written so long ago, but
speaking today to these workers, surrounded by death as they are daily at Ground Zero. He handed each
of us a business card with these words on it: "The only time you should look down on an alcoholic is when
you reach down to help him up".
I'm sure you have heard of all the fine rescue organizations working around the clock to help out at the
disaster site, but perhaps, like me, you did not know of this one. Consider how many lives might be saved
because AA was there to reach out a hand to those who might have otherwise reached for a drink or a
drug. Hats off to AA at Ground Zero.
 |
| |
 |
