The federal government’s effort to count every person in the United States is winding down, but the mission is far from over.

Monday, April 24, 2000

The federal government’s effort to count every person in the United States is winding down, but the mission is far from over.

U.S. Census Bureau officials have begun to tally the questionnaires we citizens returned by mail.

They also will enter data from bureau workers who helped count specific segments of the U.S. population.

Yet, quite a large percent of our neighbors did not return forms or respond to the census in any way.

In Lawrence County, for instance, only 61 percent of those surveyed returned the questionnaires as of last week. And census officials did not to expect to meet the 68 percent response goal.

Now, workers will begin calling or visiting those who did not respond.

Paying attention to those calls or visits will be just as important as sending in the forms that we were asked to fill out earlier this year.

Here’s why.

When government agencies try to decide what areas of the country need help with grants or special programs, they look at the economic profile of that town or county.

The economic profile comes from what residents of that town or county list on census forms or tell the polltakers.

If your community is poor, for example, but nobody sends in a census form, then it’s likely that the agency handing out the grant dollars will not know you need the help.

Think about that.

Because we weren’t willing to take a few minutes to answer questions, our children could miss out on grant money for schools, roads, hospitals – things they will need in the future.