On Saturday, June 13, 2020, a coalition of local organizations hosted a drive-thru event in downtown Mount Clemens to provide information and giveaways on Census 2020, voter registration, and a new recreational youth soccer campaign.

Mount Clemens resident and key coalition member, Thomas Barnes, remarked about the event on social media: “We registered 25 new voters. We helped to get almost 100 people counted in the 2020 census. We were able to get 20 families signed up for library cards. And we had well over 100 children sign up for our interactive youth soccer program. I would consider that a successful day!”

Financial sponsors of the event included the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan Southeast MI Counts Grant Initiative and SportPort Initiative, Mutual of America, and Northwestern Mutual. Organization partners include Advancing Macomb, LK St. Clair Soccer, TCB Mentoring, New Generation Church, Unify Sports Consulting and Good 360.

With declining population and tax base, the city of Mount Clemens has been forced to cut most quality-of-life programming in the last decade. There is a lot that Mount Clemens stands to lose if residents do not participate in the upcoming census. Volunteers at this event provided census information and support and empowered residents to fulfill their civic duty by participating in the count. For those that had not already completed the census, they had the opportunity to fill it out on site or sign a pledge card to commit to complete it at a later time. Voter registration volunteers, also on site, assisted two dozen residents to register to vote.

For the youth of the community, LK St. Clair Soccer distributed over 100 free soccer care packages that included a ball, cones, a water bottle, and a bag. This promotion kicked off the new Emerald City Project, a source of free, virtual soccer training for all levels of talent to give local youth an opportunity to get active and build their soccer skills.

The event also had opportunities to sign up for a library card, learn more about the SportPort partnership with the YMCA and sent attendees home with a Little Caesars pizza sponsored by Mutual of America.