In an effort to ensure everyone is counted, the city will help Little Rock residents complete the U.S. Census with "Census Saturday" events at grocery stores through the end of August.
City employees and volunteers will run mobile "hot spots" at the stores from 9 a.m. to noon.
The dates and locations are:
• Saturday: Edwards Food Giant, 1701 Main St.; Kroger, 6420 Colonel Glenn Road; Kroger, 8824 Geyer Springs Road; Kroger, 1100 East Roosevelt Road; Mercado San Jose Grocery, 7411 Geyer Springs Road.
• Aug. 22: Edwards Food Giant, 7525 Baseline Road; Edwards Food Giant, 20383 Arch St.; Kroger, 8824 Geyer Springs Road.
• Aug. 29: Edwards Food Giant, 1701 Main St.; Kroger, 6420 Colonel Glenn Road; Kroger, 1100 E. Roosevelt Road; Super Mercado Sin Fronteras, 4918 Baseline Road.
In light of the coronavirus pandemic, staff members and volunteers will observe public-health guidelines including wearing face coverings, social distancing and sanitizing devices used to complete the census.
As of Monday, 60.2% of Little Rock residents had responded, slightly above the state's self-response rate of 57.9%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In Little Rock, 49.3% of all residents had responded using the internet.
Census tracts in the northwest half of the city had higher self-response rates, the data shows, while south and east of the city -- east of Interstate 30 and south of Interstate 630 -- generally had the lowest rates.
In a briefing Tuesday to the city Board of Directors, Charles Blake, chief of staff for Mayor Frank Scott Jr., said the effort was part of a "targeted approach" the city was taking to make sure people in areas of Little Rock who have historically been undercounted would respond.
Groups that are considered hard to count in the census include children, people with low incomes, military personnel, people for whom English is not their first language, ethnic minorities and rural residents.
Blake also acknowledged that although the Edwards Food Giant on Arch Street is outside the city in Saline County, it's where many residents from the Arch Street Pike area in Little Rock shop.
"We're just trying to meet them where they are," he said.
He added that the city will help anyone who wants help with the census at those hot spots, regardless of whether they are city residents.