You pay taxes? Great! Ever wonder how your city or county decides how to spend your tax dollars? Better yet, it's YOUR money. Shouldn't you get a say in how it is spent?

The short answer: yes you should. Every taxpayer should have a say in how their money is spent in their community. Many local governments provide opportunities for residents to be engaged. However, not everyone has the time nor capacity to actively engage in these very important decisions, especially those in the Black community.

Why? Well, that's what I'm going to find out. But I need your help.

My name is Kaelan Boyd, and I am a doctoral candidate at Old Dominion University with a research focus on civic engagement within the Black community. In order for me to complete my research, I'll need to collect data from Black residents in Mecklenburg County. So I've partnered with Centiment to capture this data for me. I'm looking to raise $2,600 to cover the costs of my data collection.

Whatever you can give, I would be deeply appreciative. For each person that gives, you will be sent a special link to watch me defend my dissertation. As an added way to say thank you, your name will also appear in the acknowledgements section of my published research.

Thanks everyone!