Census ambassadors spread awareness

FAMU Census Information Center is joining forces with other precincts in Tallahassee on Saturday, March 20, to lead a group of volunteers in an effort to educate and stress the importance of the U.S. Census. They will target the 5,000 households in the FAMU community. At 8 a.m., volunteers will go door-to-door answering questions, handing out information, and emphasizing how critical it is for households to complete the census.

FAMU is working in partnership with the Leon County Planning Department and Marion McGee, the local Census partnership specialist. FAMU became a member of the Census Information Center Program in 2000.

“Some people have even called it a civil rights issue,” said Juanita Gatson, associate professor of geography in the College of Arts and Sciences, and director of the Census Information Center. “They call it a civil rights issue because the census directly affects decisions made in terms of funding for education, veteran services, public health, rural development, redistricting and environment. All of those things are impacted by the census.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, its mission is to serve as the leading source of quality data about the nation’s people and economy. The 2010 Census will help communities receive more than $400 billion in federal funds each year for things like: hospitals; job training centers; schools; senior centers; bridges, tunnels and other-public works projects; and emergency services. The data collected by the census also help determine the number of seats a state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Gatson noted that Tallahassee has approximately 60,000 college students. The FAMU Census Information Center established the FAMU student census ambassadors to target their colleagues, churches and community.

“I recently saw the census commercial and instantly felt the need to get involved,” said Allan Thomas, 22, a native of Fort Myers, Fla. and a business-marketing student. “It’s important, and our duty to bring awareness to the community. We often criticize each other for not participating in voting or in this case not completing the Census form, but what are we doing to change those habits.”

FAMU will implement a questionnaire assistance center in the Coleman Library from March 19 through April 19 to assist students with questions. There also will be assistance centers in the community as well as “Be Counted Sites,” where individuals can pick up a form and receive assistance with completing the census.

“We want students, student groups and churches to commit,” said Gatson. “We want everybody to come out and help us on March 20.”