The time has come again for another summer sports season.

Registration forms are now available for all of these activities at www.thearcmc.org or at The Arc office.

Unified kickball and volleyball is open to anyone in the community. Both sports run for five weeks. Softball runs for 13 weeks with three tournaments throughout the season. Bocce runs for nin weeks with one tournament at the end of the season.

Contact me at The Arc by calling 507-433-8994 or email jamey@thearcmc.org to register or if you need more information.

 

Let’s go out on March 29

March is national Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month and The Arc invites you to join us to help raise awareness about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).

What should you do? Simply make plans to go out somewhere in public on Saturday, March 29. That’s all. Just plan a day out and about with friends and family or by yourself enjoying the things you like to do. And, in the process help raise awareness and generate some conversation about people with I/DD.

This one-day movement will serve to harness our collective power to gain allies, foster understanding, dispel myths and encourage people without disabilities to recognize that we’re not so different after all.

Year round, The Arc works to promote and protect the rights of people with I/DD to live, learn, work and play as valued and contributing members of their communities.

We fight for legislation to remove barriers to full participation and inclusion and have been successful on many fronts. But sometimes the barrier has nothing to do with the width of a doorway or an employer’s hiring practices.

Sometimes the barrier is as subtle as a nervous glance from an uninformed person in line with you at the market.

This March 29, let’s all go out and start breaking down those social barriers. This is your chance to personally help raise awareness about people with I/DD just by being yourself and participating in the things you enjoy alongside others in your community without disabilities. If you are a person with I/DD, make plans to hit the movies, the park, your local shopping center or restaurant for a day out and maybe spark some conversation in the process. Or, if you are a friend or family member of a person with I/DD, make plans to enjoy a fun activity together in public.

Spread the word using the #DDAware on social media during the month of March. Follow us online on Facebook and be sure to show us what you end up doing on March 29 by sharing your photos using the #DDAware.

 

4th annual Taste of Mower County

Enjoy unlimited tastings of signature offerings from Mower County’s finest chefs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, at Austin’s Holiday Inn.

Call The Arc at 507-433-8994 to purchase tickets, become a sponsor or to donate an item for the live and silent auction or visit www.thearcmc.org.

 Jamey Helgeson is the Program Director at The Arc Mower County and can be reached at jamey@thearcmc.org or by calling 507-433-8994, Extension 102. You can also visit our website (www.thearcmc.org) and follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/thearcmc).