As 2010 Census forms begin arriving in more than 120 million mailboxes across the nation this week, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves will brief the media and public in Phoenix on the importance of taking 10 minutes to fill out and mail back 2010 Census forms. The event is part of a large-scale effort to increase awareness and motivate mail participation of the constitutionally mandated census.

It costs the government just 42 cents for a postage paid envelope when a household mails back the form. It costs the Census Bureau $57 to send a census taker door-to-door to follow up with each household that fails to respond. In 2000, the nation reversed a three-decade decline in mail rates, achieving a participation rate of 72 percent.

Monday, March 15, 9:30 a.m. local time, 12:30 a.m. EDT
(Please note Phoenix does not recognize daylight saving time)

Robert M. Groves, director, U.S. Census Bureau
Michael Nowakowski, vice mayor, City of Phoenix
Gene Blue, president, Arizona Opportunities Industrialization Center
Cathy Lacy, director, Denver Regional Office, U.S. Census Bureau

Downtown Civic Space Park
424 North Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85004

For more information about language assistance guides and translations of the form, which are available in 59 languages, visit 2010.census.gov. Telephone assistance in filling out the form is available in Spanish (1-866-928-2010), Chinese (1-866-955-2010), Vietnamese (1-866-945-2010) and Russian (1-866-965-2010) in addition to English (1-866-872-6868).