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CARMEL, Ind., April 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Team Conseco, the corporate citizenship initiative of Conseco, Inc. today announced the Step Up awards, a new employee recognition program. The program will honor up to seven employees each year for outstanding volunteer work by offering up to $20,000 of annual cash grants to the community organizations where they volunteer.

"As we saw in 2008, Conseco's employee volunteers respond when they are needed most by their communities," said Conseco CEO Jim Prieur. "Last year, approximately 870 Conseco employees participated in one or more volunteer activities, donating more than 8,000 hours of community service - a 49% increase in volunteer time over 2007. Conseco's Step Up awards program acknowledges the energy and talent that our employees invest - year in and year out - in our communities, and the commitment to citizenship that employees share with the company. We hope that this program will encourage even more of our employees to step up to community service."

The Step Up program will make annual awards on three levels:

• One Conseco employee will receive the corporate-wide "Award of Excellence," and Conseco will donate $10,000 to the nonprofit organization of the honoree's choice
• One employee will receive the "Award of High Achievement," with a $5,000 grant from Conseco going to that employee's selected nonprofit organization
• Up to five employees will each receive an "Award of Merit," with a $1,000 grant from Conseco going to the nonprofit organization selected by each honoree

The Step Up program is open to all full-time regular employees who volunteer at least 50 hours of community service during the calendar year and track those hours using VolunteerMatch, the service Conseco uses to promote and manage volunteer opportunities. Employees and the nonprofit organizations where they volunteer will co-apply for awards. The first Step Up awards will be presented next April during Conseco's celebration of National Volunteer Week 2010.

Conseco, Inc.'s insurance companies help protect working American families and seniors from financial adversity: Medicare supplement, long-term care, cancer, heart/stroke and accident policies protect people against major unplanned expenses; annuities and life insurance products help people plan for their financial futures. For more information, visit Conseco's Web site at www.conseco.com.

SOURCE: Conseco, Inc.

Web site: http://www.conseco.com/