Stand Up and Be Counted

By now, you should have received your 2010 Census form. I encourage each and every one of you to take a few minutes and fill it out, ensuring you count each and every person in your home. Federal and state funds (of about 300 billion dollars) are divided up depending on the number of people that live in each area. This data is used for the next 10 years of financial disbursements. In order to ensure that the Rochester area gets the money it needs, we need to make sure that every child and adult, male and female, legal or not, and every race gets counted. The money received goes to help with educational and health resources as well as transportation and public safety. The form only takes a few minutes to fill out and consists of 10 questions per person (mostly age, gender, name, etc). It is not only our civic duty, but by law we need to be counted every 10 years (though I do not know what exactly will happen if you do not fill out the form). It is also important for future generations who may want to research their family history. Census data is an invaluable resource for genealogists. For more information, you can visit the census page on the city's website, NY state's census website or the federal census website.

2010 Census

Are you looking for work? It is census time again and the US Census Bureau is hiring census takers in the Rochester area. The majority of the hiring will take place in the spring of 2010 and these are temporary positions. Pay for this area starts at $13.50 an hour.You will be paid weekly via direct deposit. You will receive up to 4 days of paid training and can receive reimbursement for approved expenses, such as mileage. The job qualifications include: must be age 18 or older, males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service, you are either a US citizen or you possess a bilingual skill which no qualified US citizen is available and you are a legal permanent resident or a non-citizen with the appropriate work visa, you have a valid social security number, you have a valid driver's license, you pass a background check, you pass a written test and you can commit to the 4 days of training. You can learn more about the census jobs, take a practice test and learn how to apply at the US Census Bureau website. Being a census worker is not only a great way to make some money, but it is a great way to serve your community, by helping to ensure that EVERYONE is counted.