By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Filling out your 2020 Census form makes a difference.
"We just got a really good example of that this past week, with everything that's going on with the pandemic," said Ryan Hvitlok with the City of Hutchinson's Complete Count Committee. "Our Personal Protective Equipment allocation for the State of Kansas is based on Census data. Right there, once again, is a very current example of the importance of the Census."
Though more than half of Reno County and Hutchinson residents have finished, many still need to fill out their census.
"In Reno County, we've got just under 56% of our surveys have been returned," Hvitlok said. "In Hutch, we're doing a little bit lower than that. We're at 54.5%."
There are three ways to get your 2020 Census form done and out of the way.
"The way that the Census is really trying to encourage people to respond is through their website, which is my2020census.gov.," Hvitlok said. "You can also respond via phone at 844-330-2020 and then, if you would prefer the traditional way, you can still respond via mail with the Census form that you actually fill out by hand."
The goal is to minimize as much as possible the role of traditional Census takers, given that they would have to go door-to-door and put themselves at risk in the midst of the pandemic. It only takes 10 minutes or less to fill out the questionnaire.