As The Deadline For 2020 Census Approaches, Local Officials Urge Its Importance
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The deadline for the census is at the end of the month. Locally, community leaders are asking for everyone to be counted to reap the benefits from the federal government.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald (D) says about 72 percent of the county has participated so far.
"We want to keep pushing those numbers up. We want everybody to participate, and you still have time," he told KDKA.
He said the census will help to determine how much federal funding comes to our area, and we're talking about millions of dollars.
"It more than just some number people what to know out of curiosity," Fitzgerald said.
According to Fitzgerald, federal money goes to help services like education, the healthcare field, and transportation to name a few.
"It's a way to of helping your neighbors, and to a great degree help yourself. Why not take a few minutes to do it," Dennis McManus said.
He covers government relations for The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Census data helps the food bank find people who need its services and it helps to supply federal support.
"[The federal government] base their allocations of those commodities on statistics derived from the census, so the supply of food we have is affected."
Depending on the year, he said the food bank gets about 35-50 percent of its food and funds from the local, state, and federal governments.
Being a non-profit, every resource is precious.
"The census is absolutely critical for making those decisions," McManus said over Zoom.