Up & Coming Weekly

June 23, 2020

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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10 UCW JUNE 24-30, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Completing the census is our greatest gift to our children by NAKIYA SMITH e demographic that has proven to be most undercounted in the United States is children under age 6. We simply forget to count our kids when we complete the census survey. is is problematic as the census is only conducted every 10 years, yet we have babies and need services for those babies (and prenatal services) every year. While we may not be able to predict where children will be born and serviced in advance, we can do a better job by the children already living in our community. Have you ever planned a party for 10 but have 30 people show up? is is what an undercount in the census looks like. e census, a federally mandated, population count, strives to determine how many people live in the .U.S — regardless of citizen- ship, race or age. is is an impor- tant part of our democratic process because it involves all persons. e census then determines how much funding will be applied to federal programs. ese programs include Child and Adult Care Food Program; Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program, or SNAP; and Head Start — just to name a few. en the pro- grams disperse the monies they are given to and within states based on population. In a presentation I attended conducted by N.C. Child, it was said that according to the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention, as of 2018, the child population of North Carolina was 2,442,881. For a demo- graphic or community to be con- sidered "hard to count," the mail-in response for 2010 had to be less than 73%. at means in North Caro- lina as a whole, we missed out, for the last 10 years, on a lot of money for the programs for our children. In Cumberland County, we have missed out on valuable resources such as funding to pay teachers for our Head Start programs, funding for meals for our school lunch program, as well as resources for our WIC pro- grams. In a recent presentation I at- tended given by Cumberland County Schools Assistant Superintendent of Communication Lindsay Whitley, he stated that approximately 78% of Cumberland County students are receiving free/reduced lunch. at program is a part of the census funded Child Food Program. Please consider doing your part in Cumberland County obtaining a complete count this decennial. To do so, complete your 2020 census. You can complete the survey by complet- ing and returning the mailer that was sent to your home. If you did not receive a mailer, or if you prefer, you can complete the survey online via https://my2020census.gov/ . Or call 1-844-330-2020. If English is not your primary language, the internet and phone options are available in 12 other languages. is process is quick, anonymous and protected by U.S. Constitution. We do not want to make the mistake of another undercount here in Cumberland County. We want our children in Cumberland County to receive the tax monies that should be appropri- ated to them. In North Carolina as a whole, we missed out, for the last 10 years, on a lot of money for the programs for our children. CENSUS YOUR HOME FOR THE 80'S & MORE ALL DAY LONG FREE HEALTH CARE • for uninsured Adults call 910.485.0555 NAKIYA SMITH, Cumberland County Community Engage- ment Coordinator | NC Counts Coalition . COMMENTS? Edi- tor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200.

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