Community encouraged to take part in Census

Local advocacy group Mano Amiga and the San Marcos U.S. Complete Count Committee (SMCCC) are hosting bi-weekly music and Lotería events throughout the month of April in hopes of boosting the community's Census participation.

Mano Amiga and the SMCCC will host a game of Censoteria each Friday at 6 p.m. via Facebook live with rotating hosts and live musical performances every other week to let the community know the importance of the Census while also having fun from the safety and comfort of their homes.

“We had a whole list of events that we were trying to do, and then in response to COVID, we had to cancel all the events and shift them somehow to the digital realm,” Mano Amiga member Dayann Pazmino said. “But it’s important because San Marcos has been historically undercounted — usually those in the student population and in the Latin community — so that's the reason why we're doing this, to spread the message of the importance of the Census in fun ways.”

Censotería is a modern twist on the traditional Mexican game of Lotería. Mano Amiga’s friends at La Luz Collective of California shared the game as a tool to raise awareness about the importance of the 2020 Census. Mano Amiga edited the Lotería cards for Texas relevance and invited trusted voices of the community to help lead the games — those able to speak to the Census’s impact on education, community resources and political representation. 

The first event on Friday, April 3 was led by Hays County Justice of the Peace Maggie Hernandez Moreno, San Marcos School District Trustees Anne Halsey and Miguel Arredondo as well as SMCCC and Mano Amiga member Alyssa Garza. 

This Friday's game will have live music by local band BluMoon and be hosted by famed San Marcos photographer Christopher Paul Cardoza and Pazmino. The final winner will also receive a free print of Cardoza's work. 

On Friday, April 17, the Censotería wil be led by Mano Amiga co-founder Karen Muñoz and Field Representative for the Office of Congressman Lloyd Doggett Diana Gómez and  community volunteer Mayra Mejia. This event will be bilingual with two of the five rounds in Spanish.  

On Friday, April 24 the game will be hosted by locally-renowned painter Rene Perez and there will be a performance by Attic Ted! The final winner will recieve a print by Rene Perez and Pazmino.

To play, simply log on to Facebook and go to the Facebook event page. The day of the game a moderator will assign you your tabla. Then go to Mano Amiga's Shared Google Drive to download your free tabla. Participants can either use a printed copy or draw out their boards by hand. The moderator will call out the cards one by one, Participants that win can type on the chat box "LOTERIA" or "YO CUENTO," and the first person to type it in with the right tabla will win that round. There will be five rounds played during each event and each round's winner will receive a $20 gift card to either H-E-B, a local restaurant or an art print from the host that week.

As of April 8, only 29.6% of San Marcos residents had self-responded to the Census. Higher self-response rates mean fewer people are likely to be missed or counted inaccurately and fewer households will have a visit from a census taker to be counted in-person. The SMCCC is encouraging residents to take the time to fill to self-respond to the Census because of the impact that an accurate count will have on the community. 

The results of the 2020 Census will help determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding flow into communities for the next decade. That funding shapes many different aspects of the community, from responding to natural disasters to securing funding for hospitals and fire departments. The Census data also determines the number of seats the state has in the House of Representatives and can affect the drawing of congressional and state legislative districts.

The Census can be filled out at Census website or toll-free at 844-330-2020. If you have not received anything from the Census Bureau yet, you can still respond online. Visit the online form and select “Start Questionnaire.” Below the ID field, click the link that says, “If you do not have a Census ID, click here.” If you are responding online, please note that you cannot save progress and that you must complete the census in one sitting. You can also preview the questions asked on the census at the Census website.

Pazmino said the online Lotería game will be the first of several events hosted to encourage residents to fill out the Census. They plan on hosting a video contest and a meme contest as well.