By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on January 08, 2010 9:30 AM
In The Largest Civic Outreach Program In US History, The Census Portrait Of America Road Tour Launches With More Than 800 Events In Four Months
Census Portrait Of America Road Tour Kicks Off National Tour In New York
Times Square is having its moment: First New Year’s Eve, now the Census Bureau has kicked off its national tour there.
The Census Bureau revved up its “Census Portrait of America Road Tour” in New York City’s Times Square this week, starting the trip across the country to remind people to fill out their census forms--and mail them in.
Mail It Back
A 46-foot trailer and 12 vans will traverse the USA in the coming months. The trailer is nicknamed “Mail It Back” (catchy..yes? no?) and offers an interactive representation of the census form.
The smaller vans offer technology that allows participants to track the tour online as it happens. Updates will be available on social media postings through outlets like Twitter and Facebook. Well, it beats doing the laundry.
More Than 800 Events In Four Months
The population count takes place once a decade, and this tour will be part of the largest civic outreach program in US history. It will stop at more than 800 events during the next four months, including the Super Bowl and the NCAA Final Four, as well as smaller venues like local parades.
The 10-question forms (one of the shortest ever) will arrive in your mailboxes March 15-17; they're supposed to be an account of everyone living in the United Sates. Results are used to reapportion congressional seats and decide how more than $400 billion a year in federal funding is distributed to local and state governments. So stand up and be counted, New York!
