One out of every ten Minnesotans has a family member or friend who lives with a developmental or learning disability. And more than 15 percent of Minnesotans live with a learning disability. These are staggering numbers, and the challenges facing people with disabilities are just as overwhelming. Furthermore, these disabilities are lifelong challenges, not “curable” or “treatable” conditions. And this requires that someone be there to support people with disabilities their entire life.

The Tapemark Benefiting Charities and the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am offer the promise of this constant support. For more than 50 years, our benefiting charities, Arc Greater Twin Cities, The Arc of Minnesota, Dakota Communities, ProAct, and the Learning Disabilities Program of Children’s Home Society and Family Services, have been working daily to help people with disabilities reach their full potential and live the lives of their choosing in their own communities. And the Tapemark Pro-Am has been their partner for 38 years, raising and donating more than $6.4 million to support them.

All Tapemark Pro-Am funding comes in the form of General Operating funds. Much of the grant funding given to non-profits is tied directly to specific programs, and they can often find themselves strapped for cash to operate on a day-to-day basis. The Tapemark Pro-Am is committed to providing General Operating funds to ease this burden, and help ensure these agencies will be there for their constituents and members.

While we have made tremendous strides in how we support people with disabilities, we are still working to overcome the stigma that ruined many lives when people with disabilities were shunned, hidden away, or shuttled off to state institutions to face lives of limited hope or promise. The Tapemark Pro-Am is staunchly committed to a day when all Minnesotans, regardless of ability, can live, work, and play in their own communities with dignity and respect.

Uncertain economic times almost always result in dramatic state budget cuts in the human services, and Minnesota’s most vulnerable citizens invariably face the biggest of these cuts in funding. The past several years, while difficult for all of us, have seen this played out again and again. We know how tough the past several years have been for everyone, and how difficult a decision a financial contribution can be. We only ask that you remember how much your support means to people living with a disability, to their family, and to their friends. And then remember, you are those people.