I know it is very frustrating to adhere to the advice of our officials, both locally and statewide, without any idea as to how long we must continue to do so.
I am frustrated with the same, so I know it is a common concern with others. I applaud everyone who is taking a “shelter in place” attitude, and going out only for your own essential needs.
I also can’t send enough thanks to the businesses that closed ahead of the Governor’s order- you truly deserve to be praised, as you are looking out for your employees and clients.
Today, I want to write about the U.S. Census that is taking place now. So many of us are working from home today and are trying to find distractions during breaks, so I am giving you one idea that truly only takes about 10 minutes of your time. But that small amount of time is what every town like ours needs to get federal money to help with our growth in our community.
More than $700 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities, and decisions are made on matters of national and local importance, based in part on census data. These decisions include health care, community development, housing, education, transportation, social services, employment and much more.
It is more important than ever to have every single resident of our town to go online and fill out this census. The numbers that we get from this year’s census will set our dollar amount received from the federal government for the next 10 years. And we desperately need every penny we can get, to defray the costs of schools, social services, community development and all other areas listed above.
The census is also a great job creator, as the census creates hundreds of thousands of jobs across the nation. If you are in need of work now, check the census website and see what our local area needs.
April 1 was designated Census Day across the country, and our town has followed suit with our own proclamation agreeing with the rest of our towns across America.
By now, all of you should have received a letter from the Census Bureau, and in it is a simple direction to go to the website, enter the personalized key info and in less than 5 minutes you will be able to submit.
Again, I am begging you all to do this soon.
Lisa Sulka is the mayor of the Town of Bluffton. lsulka@townofbluffton.com
