Get your census form in!

Now, a word from the Census:

The Census Bureau has been working for years to bring our community and our nation to this moment. Elected and community leaders, business people and clergy of every stripe have been working with Census staff to help spread the word. We have engaged the media who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to perform a great public service: to raise awareness as never before about the benefits of filling out the census questionnaire and mailing it back. The result of all of that work has now landed in our mailboxes, one of the most important pieces of mail any of us will receive. It is now up to each one of us.

Why Complete and Mail the Questionnaire?
Each community’s share of more than $400 billion is at stake. That is $400 billion in federal funds distributed every year for ten years. That means over that period, you are guiding your community’s share of trillions of dollars when you complete and mail the census questionnaire. Our political voice in Washington DC and Lansing is also directly affected by the population count.

It’s Easy
The census questionnaire arrives with a postage paid, pre-addressed envelope. Once you answer the ten questions (that’s right only ten questions) you can put the questionnaire into the envelope and drop it in the mail. Be sure to count everyone in your house. Some of us may have relatives or friends living with us who are caught up in the financial crisis. Please count them as part of the household. On average, completing the questionnaire will take ten minutes. That is a small investment of time for ten years worth of benefits.

It’s Important
Democracy works best when we all participate. The same is true with the census. When cities, states and counties make plans about where to place hospitals, police and fire stations, schools and roads, it is absolutely crucial that they have an accurate picture of the population. The census envelope that just landed in your mail box is a tool to help make the infrastructure work for you. Decision makers and everyone in our community needs the support that comes with an accurate count of the population so that adequate resources can flow based on that count.

The census is part of the most basic law of the land. It is written into the US Constitution to reapportion the U.S. House of Representatives. So your voice in Congress is also at stake. In addition, the Ohio legislature is also reapportioned based on census numbers. When you complete and mail the census questionnaire you are participating in a basic right of citizens to have a voice in the political system, a cornerstone of democracy.

It’s Safe
Each census worker takes an oath for life to protect your personal data. This requires those hired to accept the responsibility of keeping ALL information gathered, confidential. This represents a lifetime obligation, continuing even if the employees are no longer affiliated with the Census Bureau. As a Census employee, if they were to reveal any personal data gathered by the census to anyone outside of the Bureau, they would be subject to a five year federal prison term and a $250,000 fine. With that kind of protection, you can rest assured that each and every Census employee is committed to your privacy. The Census Bureau does not ask immigration status, parole status or about late payments of any kind to any agency public or private.

It’s in Our Hands
The most important part of the census takes place in the privacy of your home. But the affects are felt for miles around and for years to come. What kind of community development do we want to see for the next ten years? Ten years from now, today’s teenagers will be adults. What kind of infrastructure, resources and political voice will we be handing them? The answers to these questions rest with all of us. When we complete and mail the census questionnaire we are taking a unique, once in a decade opportunity to invest in the community and help ourselves.

For more information or to see an online copy of the census questionnaire with each question explained, please visit www.2010census.com.