Growing and Changing Population

A friend of mine sent this to me recently. I thought I would pass it along for the statistics, but also in hopes that you or someone you know might volunteer for this. If you're outside of Dallas, I'm sure you could call or email the person below and he could direct you to your local office.

Per a U.S. Census Bureau news release dated May 10, 2006, about 1 in every 3 U.S. residents is now classified as belonging to a racial or ethnic minority. In 2005, the nation's minority population totaled 98 million, or 33%, of the country's total of 296.4 million.

Hispanics continue to be the largest minority group at 42.7 million. With a 3.3% increase in population from July 1, 2004, to July 1, 2005, they are the fastest-growing group. Hispanics accounted for almost half (1.3 million, or 49%) of
the national population growth of 2.8 million between July 1, 2004 to July 1,
2005.

The second largest minority group was blacks (39.7 million), followed by Asians (14.4 million). The population of non-Hispanic whites who indicated no other race totaled 198.4 million in 2005.

A Census Bureau projection showed that the "minority" population would make up about half of the total population by the year 2050. There are two components of population growth - immigration and natural increase of births over deaths. Hispanics are leading the nation's growth in both factors.

Based on the above data, the SPEC (Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication) Partners and coalitions will need to recruit more Bilingual Volunteers to help staff the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites in 2007. Please distribute the attached Volunteer Interest Form to your colleagues, partners, associates, friends and families. Thanks in advance for your help. From: Johnnie Bowers 214-413-6032 johnnie.m.bowers@irs.gov