City hosts census parade, ice cream social tonight
Series of events set for areas with lower response rates
To help boost awareness of the 2020 Census, Yuma will host the first in a series of census parades and free ice cream socials starting 6 p.m. tonight at Carver Park, 5th Street and 13th Avenue.
Between 10 and 15 city vehicles will participate in the parade, which will broadcast messages about the importance of filling out the census. Additionally, the messages will notify neighbors that census workers will soon appear in their neighborhood to knock on the doors of those who have not completed this year’s census.
Residents can “stop the knock” by answering the census online at my2020Census.gov.
To thank neighbors for participating, the city will offer free ice cream sandwiches and popsicles at the park while supplies last.
Census enumerators will be on hand to assist residents with questions and demonstrate how easy, quick and safe it is to fill out the census at my2020Census.gov.
Held only once a decade, the constitutionally mandated census is a complete count of every living person in the United States.
Census data determines the distribution of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and is used for economic development, emergency preparedness, and community initiatives involving legislation, quality-of-life issues, school planning and consumer advocacy.
In Yuma, the city has used census data for the following activities:
• Population counts and projections for park planning.
• Population and housing counts and projections for transportation planning.
• Population and housing counts and projections for fire station planning.
• Housing counts and projections for water and sewer utility planning.
• Population and housing counts for annexations.
• Population and housing information for the Mesa Heights Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.
• Growth trends for school site planning.
In the coming weeks, the city will visit several locations where the census response rates are lower than the city average, including ice cream socials at Marcus Park, Joe Henry Park, Immaculate Conception Church, Mesa Heights Neighborhood Resource Center, and Smucker Park.