Participating in Census 2010 will help you and your family. It also helps our government learn a lot about the people in America, like how many of us are here and where we live.

All that we learn about ourselves through the census will help the United States and you and your families succeed over the next decade. Being counted in the census is a great way to tell our leaders who we are and what we need.

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau attempts to count all residents living in the United States. The census is required by the U.S. Constitution under Article I Section 2, and is performed once a decade. It does more than just satisfy our curiosity about the number of people that live in the country.

Here is how participating in the Census helps you and your family:

1. The federal government uses the census count to send $440 billion dollars in federal funds each year to communities like yours, for education programs, housing and community development, health care services for the elderly, job training and much more.

2. State, local and tribal governments use census information to tell them where to build new schools, libraries, public buildings, highway safety and public transportation systems, new roads, bridges and police and fire departments.

3. Local community organizations use census information to develop social service programs, community action projects, senior lunch programs and child-care centers.

4. Businesses use census data to decide where to locate factories, shopping centers, movie theaters, banks and offices — decisions that bring new jobs to your city or town.

5. Once Congress gets the data, they then determine how many representatives your state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, states use the numbers to allocate seats in their state legislatures.

As more and more Latino residents living in communities across the nation gain a better understanding of the importance of being counted and what it means to them, there is still one question we get asked more often than any other: Is the information I give to the Census Bureau confidential? The answer is yes.

Every Census Bureau worker takes an oath for life to protect the confidentiality of your responses. Violation of this confidentially oath would result in a jail term of up to five years and/or fine of up to $250,000. The Census Bureau takes this issue very seriously and, by law, the bureau cannot share an individual’s answers with anyone, including welfare and immigration agencies.

In past census efforts, many community residents failed to complete their census forms complaining that they were too long. Well, this time, the Census Bureau has designed one of the shortest questionnaires in history, just 10 questions. They will ask you for your name, gender, age, race, ethnicity, relationship, and whether you own or rent your home. It takes only about 10 minutes for the average household to complete.

Despite the intensive national effort to ensure a full count that the Census Bureau intends to mount during the year, they cannot do it alone. Ensuring everyone is counted in the growing Latino population will require a community-based effort. The It’s Time, Make Yourself Count initiative is a nationally coordinated effort to ensure all of the Latino community is counted. The only way to achieve a full count of our community is if every household makes the decision to make itself count, fills out their census form, and returns it. Participating in the census keeps us on our path toward greater political, social, and economic empowerment.

Fill out your census form and be counted. For more information, visitwww.yaeshora.info.

Ronald Gonzales-Lawrence is a member of the Little Lake City School District Board of Education, based in Santa Fe Springs.