Clovis holding Census celebration

Once every 10 years, the U.S. conducts its countrywide Census, gathering data that will be used to make major decisions over the next decade. That includes deciding where over $800 billion in federal funding will end up.

The city of Clovis and Curry County have decided to hold a celebration Saturday in honor of the Census, and hopefully answer any pressing questions the population might have about how it works.

“This is our Census awareness event. We want to put on a celebration so that when everyone gets their Census they hopefully remember the information they got here,” Clovis Communications and Grant Writing Coordinator Tiffany Campion said. “It should be a great day. We’ll have music and giveaways.”

The city will host the Everybody Loves the Census community celebration at Roy Walker Recreation Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The event is free and all ages are welcome.

There will be music by live bands including “Kazz Tigo,” face painting, balloon twisting, photo booths and more for entertainment, as well as free food and free t-shirts for the first 500 visitors.

The event is funded by a grant award to Curry County to help raise awareness for the Census.

“We only get one chance every 10 years to get this right,” Campion said. “It’s important to determine how over $800 billion will be spent in our area. There was 30 percent of the New Mexico population that wasn’t counted in 2010 and a 1 percent undercount in Clovis would equal more than $11.5 million in revenue loss.”

Campion said the funding loss would have gone to different services, including Medicaid, Social Security, school food programs and other federally funded programs.