Join our FINAL Census Advocacy Event!
We're in the final push of our census advocacy efforts, and Asian Americans For Equality (AAFE) has organized a final Chinatown census outreach event for THIS SATURDAY, April 17th from 11am-4pm. We'll be meeting at 11am in front of AAFE office, 108 Norfolk between Rivington and Delancey (near F, J, M, Z, Delancey/Essex stop). We'll be doing both street outreach and phone banking, so bring your phones and chargers if you can. See the attached flyer for more info.
But wait, wasn't Census Day on April 1st, and hasn't that date passed?! As of right now, only a little more than 50% of New York residents have returned their census forms (compared to the 66% national average) - that's a lot of money the city won't get to allocate toward particular neighborhoods who do really need that funding. (The city loses $3,000 in federal funding every year for every individual that isn't counted.) This low participation rate is pretty dismal, according to one news article, with immigrant groups still being significantly undercounted and underrepresented. According to another article, though, the census is "driving hope in New York's Chinese Immigrant Neighborhoods," and we can still make a difference in following all the way through to the figurative finish line. The Census Bureau will start sending out enumerators soon to go door to door (April through July 2010) to help people fill out their census forms - the more participation WE can catalyze effectively, the less money the Census Bureau will have to spend on this upcoming part of the process (and that's money that could potentially be allocated to other more integral facets of this process).
So let's do it! It would be fabulous to see all of you in Chinatown this Saturday, and it would be awesome if we all committed to bringing one or two other people along with us. Join us for some canvassing, spread the word / bring your friends, and come meet other new people as well. If you're able to make it (and if you know of others who will be joining you), please shoot me an RSVP e-mail to stephaniehsu@cyinyc.org by Thursday night, April 15th so that I can give a rough count to Peter over at AAFE of how many CYI folks to expect on Saturday.
“March to the Mailbox”
Census 2010 Mobilization
April 17, 2010, 11-4pm
Meet at AAFE Central Office
108 Norfolk, New York, 10002
(In between Rivington and Delancey off of the F,J,M,Z Delancey/Essex stop.)
Help us get an accurate count of our community in Manhattan Chinatown and Flushing, Queens!
On April 17th, we will be:
• Conducting Street and Park Outreach in Manhattan Chinatown
• Phone banking Chinatown and Flushing residents
RSVP or contact us for more information:
volunteer@aafe.org / (212)979-8381 ext.100
