By Mary Jo Coulehan
Special to The SUN
The end of the year will soon be upon us, and with the start of 2020, the federal reporting program that occurs every decade begins.
The 2020 census information will be collected in a variety of ways. The easiest and most comfortable way to answer the census is online. The census questions are simple and the survey should take less than 10 minutes. You may also fill out a hard copy of the census and mail it in, or you can answer the questions via a phone inquiry. One other choice is to wait and have a census taker complete the survey with you.
In each county, there will be a workgroup, Complete Count Community, formed to remind and encourage people to fill out the 2020 census. The first meeting of the workgroup will take place on Friday, Nov. 15, at 11 a.m. in the Chamber of Commerce conference room at 105 Hot Springs Blvd. People interested in volunteering on the group are welcome to attend this kick-off meeting.
At this meeting, ways to encourage people to fill out the survey, ways to remind people about the survey and other outreach efforts will be discussed. The beauty of this workgroup is that your volunteer efforts are only needed until April 2020. People with marketing ideas, multilingual individuals and just plain boots-on-the-ground efforts will be needed. With an estimated amount of $2,300 coming back into the community for every person completing the survey, it is critical to our service organizations that everyone fills out the census. If you are interested in attending this work session, contact Mary Jo Coulehan at 264-2360 or just attend the meeting on Nov. 15.