Newark, NJ - March 26, 2010 - Mayor Cory A. Booker and Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Engagement Margarita Muñiz reminded Newark residents to support the City’s efforts to “Get Out the Count” in Newark by filling in and returning their Census 2010 forms, and announced that the City will host FREE Census Family Day events at three different sites tomorrow, Saturday, March 27, to build up awareness of the Census and motivate residents to fill in the forms.
The census drive launch is part of the City’s efforts to ensure that Newark’s population is fairly and accurately counted on Census Day, taking place on April 1, 2010. The Census Family Days are being held in each ward, to inform, educate, and motivate residents to “Be Counted” in the 2010 Census. There will be activities for children, light refreshments, and informational giveaways. The schedule for tomorrow’s activities is as follows:
West Ward: West Side High School, 403 South Orange Avenue, from 9 a.m. to Noon.
Contact: Matthew Stevens, West Ward Collective, (973) 732-3220
Central Ward: Christ Church Newark, 27 Lincoln Park, from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Contact: Reverend Gerald Whitaker, (973) 484-0200
East Ward: St. Stephens Grace Community Church, 7 Wilson Avenue, from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Contact: Jon Montiero, (908) 591-2112
Census Family Day events were held in the North and South Wards earlier this week.
“Newark, like many municipalities throughout the state, is facing challenging economic times,” Mayor Booker said. “The stimulus money and federal aid our city receives to support our schools, infrastructures and overall city programs are based on our population count. It is imperative for our transformation as the state’s largest city that the count is accurate. I urge all of Newark’s residents to stand up and be counted.”
Census data is used by state and local agencies, businesses, nonprofit organizations and members of the general public to design public safety strategies, make informed decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local and state governments each year. The Census also determines the proportions for districting the House of Representatives, and how many seats individual states get.
The 2010 Census has one of the shortest census questionnaires in history, dating back to the nation’s first census in 1790. The Census Bureau will mail or deliver more than 130 million questionnaires to households in the United States. All personal information will be kept confidential.
“We want residents to know that the 2010 Census is important, it’s easy, and it’s safe,” says Raul Vicente, Jr., Senior Media Specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau. “By law, responses to the questionnaire can not be shared with any other agency or person, and this will be the shortest questionnaire ever.”
Measures to spread the word about the 2010 Census include hiring local residents for a variety of temporary positions, ranging from field census takers to support positions in administration, recruiting, and technology fields. All Census Bureau employees, including the census workers who collect the address information and GPS coordinates, have taken a lifetime oath to protect confidentiality and are subject to a jail term, a fine - or both - for disclosing any information that could identify a respondent or household.
Persons interested in these temporary positions can find out more at the Census Bureau’s web page at www.census.gov or can schedule an employment test by phoning (866) 861-2010.
Additional information, fact sheets, and multimedia, are available on the Census Bureau’s online newsroom. Go to http://www.census.gov/2010
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