YPAA History

Young People's Groups in Alcoholics Anonymous began appearing around 1945 in Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Philadelphia, and now they can be found all across the Globe.

At the 1960 AA Convention, Bill W. noted that the age of new members was much lower than when he and Dr. Bob founded AA 25 years earlier. In a letter to the International Conference of Young People of AA, dated June 15, 1969, Bill wrote " ... in recent years I have found nothing for greater inspiration than the knowledge that A.A. of tomorrow will be safe, and certainly magnificent, in the keeping of you who are the younger generation of A.A. today."

This meeting provides an opportunity for young AAs from all over the world to come together and share their experience, strength, and hope as members of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA members who attend a BICYPAA return home better prepared to welcome young people who come to AA seeking a better way of life.

BICYPAA History

In 2014, the Big Island hosted the Western Area Conference of Young People of AA, which inspired a group of local AAs from across the island to form a Committee that developed into BICYPAA. We had our first annual Campout the following year. This year is our 10th Anniversary.

BICYPAA was founded for the purpose of providing a setting for an annual celebration of sobriety among young people in AA. Since its inception, a growing group of people who at first would not consider themselves "young people" has become regular attendees. The number of young people suffering from alcoholism who turn to AA for help is growing, and BICYPAA helps to carry AA's message of recovery to alcoholics of all ages.

From How It Works, p.66

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.