The Arc of Mower County and the Mower County Senior Center have teamed up once again to host a Dad’s Belgian Waffle Breakfast fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 18, from 9 am. to 1 p.m.

Please call Dawn or Jamey at The Arc and let us know how you can help.

We need volunteers at these times: 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and 11 a.m. to clean up; help selling tickets; donations such as milk, orange juice and monetary donations to help with the cost of the fundraiser; and you to help spread the word by displaying an enclosed poster at your church or business and then come out and enjoy the breakfast with your family and friends.

Tickets are available now. Advance tickets: $7 for adults or $5 for children (6-12).

Tickets are also available at the door: $8 for adults or $6 for children (6-12), Children 5 and younger are free.

Please call The Arc of Mower County for tickets at (507) 433-8994.

Empowering Americans with disabilities

Fifty-four million Americans — roughly 1 in 6 — personally experience some form of disability, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to increase those numbers.

Yet 17 years after Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Americans with disabilities still do not have an equal opportunity.

In 2006, working Americans with disabilities were almost three times more likely to live below the poverty line than those  without disabilities. While the average annual household income of individuals in the United States without disabilities was $65,400 in 2006, the average annual household income for people with disabilities was $36,300.

The employment rate for persons with disabilities in 2006 was at least 40 points lower than the employment rate of working-age individuals without disabilities.

These dismal statistics offer evidence of severe shortcomings in our country’s efforts to break down the barriers that exclude people with disabilities and deprive them of true equality of opportunity and independence.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden believe the United States should lead the world in empowering people with disabilities to take full advantage of their talents and become independent, integrated members of society.

Dozens of countries have adopted laws modeled on the Americans with Disabilities Act, but America’s leadership in the world has faded in recent years.

As president, Obama will renew America’s leadership by making the United States a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities — the first human rights treaty approved by the UN in the 21st century and a vital foundation for respecting the rights of people with disabilities worldwide. He will urge the U.S. Senate to ratify the Convention expeditiously.

Obama and Biden have a four-part plan to provide Americans with disabilities with the greatest possible access to the same opportunities as those without disabilities.

1. Providing Americans with disabilities the educational opportunities they need to succeed.

2. Ending discrimination and promoting equal opportunity.

3. Increasing the employment rate of workers with disabilities.

4. Supporting independent, community-based living for Americans with disabilities.

And they will work closely with individuals with disabilities and disability rights advocates to achieve this vision of a society where all can live with dignity and respect.

For more information, please visit www.thearc.org.

Upcoming Events

Monday: Closed for the Labor Day holiday

Tuesday – Saturday, Sept. 10: Adult Vacation to Brindley’s Harbor Resort on Leech Lake in Walker; The Arc of Mower County office is Closed