EAI Teens & Twenties Phone Call Scripts for Contacting High Schools, Colleges, & Universities

Hi. My name is _________ and I am a member of a Twelve Step program called Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous.

• If you have a direct contact at the school, you can start with:
  I’m calling to ask if you’d be interested in having members of our Twelve-Step program come and speak with your students or faculty about food addiction.
• If you don’t have a direct contact at the school, you can start with:
  I am hoping to speak with someone who might be interested in learning more about food addiction and our program of recovery; perhaps a health teacher, someone in the health or fitness department, a counselor, nurse or addiction specialist.

General background to share:
FA is a Twelve-Step program for people who have problems with food and weight. Some of the symptoms of food addiction include obesity, bulimia, binge eating, and obsession with exercise or body image. FA is a non-profit organization based on the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and is entirely free. Our website is WWW.FOODADDICTS.ORG if you’d like to learn more on your own.

Are you familiar with FA or AA?
(Discuss briefly how FA is based on the Twelve-Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, except we focus on addiction to food, specifically flour, sugar and unmeasured quantities.)

Members of our program are available to speak with health and addiction classes in high schools and colleges to educate those in their teens and twenties about food addiction. We want to do service for the community by educating youth and educators.
It has personally helped me tremendously to do this volunteer work. (Continue as you feel comfortable to tell a small part of your story of food addiction and how FA has helped you.)

Is this something that your school might be interested in learning more about?

• If they say yes – you could say:
  I will send you some informational literature to review and share with faculty and students. Can we organize a time for some of our members to come and speak with your students and faculty, perhaps in a classroom, at a health fair or in an assembly setting?
• Get pertinent information to mail literature and stay connected:
• o Contact’s full name and title/position
• o Mailing address (ask if there is a room number or “attention to” name)
• o Contact’s email
• o Contact’s phone number
• Provide the contact with your information (name, email, phone)
• Suggested materials to send to your contact after initial conversation:
• Food Addiction: There is a Solution (pamphlet)
• Teens and Twenties (pamphlet)
• Letter or note from you to your contact saying thank you and mention that you’ll be in touch again soon.
• If they say no – you could say:
  Is there another department in the school that might be interested? Do you have contact information for that person or department?
  
  Would it be OK for me to send you some free literature about our program and food addiction? You can look over it and share it with your staff. Some schools choose to display the literature in their health department or counseling offices. Thank you for your time.