The 2010 Census is Coming…

Today in the mail I received a reminder saying that next week I would be receiving the 2010 Census forms and to please fill them out.  I started thinking about first off why wouldn’t someone fill it out, I mean it can’t take that long to fill out and it is only once every ten years!  This will actually be my first one as the last one that came out, I was in college and I assume my mom included me in her count.

I started reading about the 2010 Census and I learned some interesting facts:

• Communities will receive more than $400 billion in federal funds each year for things like hospitals, job training centers, schools, senior centers, public works and transportation and more.
• The data determines the number of seats your state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• It is just 10 short questions and postage is already paid for you to return it.
• If you don’t fill it out, a census taker may come knocking on your door to ask you personally those questions (how embarrassing!)
• Any personal data you provide is protected under federal law.
• Federal, state, and local governments use the data to interpret social and economic characteristics, such as forecasting amount of people eligible for Social Security or Medicare benefits.
• Does not ask for anything too personal such as a social security number (which by the way if a census taker does come to your door they should not ask you this.)

So basically, please take the ten minutes or so and fill out the 2010 Census form, one of the shortest forms in history!  Your community is depending on everyone’s answers!