Census road tour makes a stop in Carson City

The mobile 2010 census unit visited the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada in Carson City on Wednesday.

"The census is all about the spirit of community," said Mike Geissinger, the manager of the Northern Nevada census office. "Where better than a boys and girls club to reach out to all different types of ethnicities within the community?"

The 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour is traveling across the country from January to April to educate the public about the census and encourage participation.

Data from the 2010 census will help dictate how communities receive more than $400 billion in federal funds each year for items such as hospitals, schools, roads and emergency services.

Geissinger said it is particularly important in Nevada, where the population is expected to be around 2.8 million, but funding is still based on numbers from the last census in 2000.

"Our population has grown about 35 percent, but our funding has stayed stagnant," he said. "The state of Nevada is one that really needs this census."

The data collected by the census also help determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The purpose of the road tour, he said, is to reassure people that the census is safe, and that it's also easy and important.

Chelin Garcia Vargas, a partnership specialist to the Latino community in Northern Nevada for the 2010 census, said she is focusing on increasing Latino participation.

However, she said, the emphasis is on reaching all people.

"We are here to reach everybody," she said. "We are not here for one certain ethnicity. In the census, everybody counts."

The 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour provided attendees with information about the census and gave them the opportunity to see a sample census form.