The League of Women Voters of the Arlington Height-Mount Prospect-Buffalo Grove (including Wheeling, Prospect Heights and Elk Grove Village) Area invites local agencies dealing with the 2010 census and interested residents to a free public meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19 at the Arlington Heights Historical Society, 110 W. Fremont St.

Lee Habich, partnership specialist from the U.S. Census Bureau, will discuss the upcoming Census, privacy issues and how the census count impacts such things as our taxes, our political representations in Springfield and in Washington, D.C., federal funding for public services, city and school planning, education and commercial endeavors.

The Constitution declares that on April 1, 2010, everyone - citizens and noncitizens - living in the U.S. must be counted. The League of Women Voters has joined the education and communication campaign for the 2010 U.S. Census. With your help we will make sure everyone is counted.

The League's goals are:

• To inform all of us so we are comfortable talking about the 2010 Census with our family, neighbors, friends, clients, and work associates;

• For us to network and brainstorm ways to assist residents who may be unable or hesitant to returned their completed census questionnaire;

• To improve the count of residents in hard-to-count communities - immigrants, minorities, rural folk, the homeless, residents of high rises, and nonnative English speakers and readers.

• To provide networking opportunities for those who work with hard-to-count populations; and

• For all of us to return our completed census questionnaires.

The League invites you, members of your staff, and members of your service population to join the League and Mr. Habich on Nov. 19.

We hope to motivate you to join the U.S. Census Bureau's education and communication campaign, "It's in Your Hands."

If you have joined a Complete Count Committee, have already planned your own campaign to excite your clients about the 2010 Census, or are establishing help centers for residents, please come and share your ideas and plans. Call Judith Royal, (847) 259-5838, with questions or suggestions.