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If you’re like me, you probably threw the envelope in a pile with junk mail to deal with another day. Well, that day is coming soon: Mail your completed form before April 19 or a census worker will have to come to your door to collect the information, and you know the state can’t afford that expense. We also can’t afford NOT to count every resident. That gives us all about 10 days to mail the information, so do it today! Keep in mind, census data is used to qualify for billions in federal aid for schools, hospitals and transportation needs—about $2,000 in federal aid per resident. Census data also determines how many representatives Massachusetts sends to Congress, meaning we need every resident to be counted so we can keep our 10 congressional seats! If you have questions or need to see a form, check MassVote here.

On a local note, Secretary of State William Galvin visited the Daley Middle School in Lowell a few weeks back to pitch the importance of the census to sixth grade students. (It was part of a statewide education effort conducted in several schools.) After his presentation, the questions from our students shed some light on their unique perspective of all things census, such as: If you’re pregnant do you count as one or two people? If you struggle with reading or don’t speak English well, will someone help you? And if you are homeless or in the hospital, how will your information be included? (Out of the mouths of babes, we learn the reality of our community.) Since most of us don’t have those challenges, we should just complete the form and get it in the mail asap!