The Big Blue Test is a diabetes awareness campaign encouraging physical activity and providing life-saving supplies to more than 10,000 people in need. This quick 14- minute test raises awareness of the impact of exercise for people with diabetes — and each test results in a donation of life-saving supplies to people in need.
The Big Blue Test is a program of the Diabetes Hands Foundation and in 2012 is open from October 14 through November 14. The test ends on World Diabetes Day. Check out this video, which entertains as well as inspires the diabetes community to participate!
Big Blue Test Basics
- Test your blood sugar
- Exercise for 14-20 minutes
- Test your blood sugar again, and record the results at BigBlueTest.org
- If 20,000 tests are logged before November 14th, $100,000 will be donated to diabetes-related nonprofits.
The Big Blue Test website aggregates all of the blood sugar data collected and calculates the effect of the physical activity. In the past three years, just 14 minutes of exercise has decreased participants’ blood sugar level between 15 and 20 percent, on average.
“We all know that exercise is good for us,” said Manny Hernandez, president of the Diabetes Hands Foundation. “With the Big Blue Test we get to not only help ourselves by getting active, but we can also help to get life-saving diabetes supplies, treatments, and patient education to 10,000 people who really need them.”
The goal this year is to get 20,000 Big Blue Test results logged online by November 14th. If this goal is reached, Roche Diabetes Care, the makers of ACCU-CHECK® products and services, will donate $100,000 that the Diabetes Hands Foundation will use to fund grants to seven nonprofit organizations that serve people with diabetes living in need worldwide.
About the Big Blue Test
The Big Blue Test started in 2009 as a creative way to encourage people with diabetes to stay active. It has grown into a global, viral campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of exercise for people with diabetes and help support diabetes charities in the process.
The five nonprofits that will benefit from the 2012 Big Blue Test grants in the United States are: Auxanomen Health Clinic at Parker Lane United Methodist Church in Austin, TX; American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad, Inc. (AYUDA) for its work with the Pascua Yaqui tribe in Pima County, AZ; DASH (Diabetes and Sports Health) Camps / LIFT-Levantaté in Oakland, CA; Insulin for Life USA in Gainesville, FL; and University of Colorado, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Aurora, CO.
The Diabetes Hands Foundation is also partnering with recognized two NGOs to bring Big Blue Test grant funding to three international projects. American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad, Inc. (AYUDA) will work with Fundación Aprendiendo a Vivir in Dominican Republic; and Fundación Diabetes Juvenil Ecuador in Ecuador. ; And World Diabetes Foundation will work with Fondation Haitienne de Diabète et de Maladies Cardio-Vasculaires (FHADIMAC) in Haiti.
About the Diabetes Hands Foundation
(www.DiabetesHandsFoundation.org) 
We, at the Diabetes Hands Foundation believe that no one touched by diabetes should ever feel alone, because together we become stronger and have the power to generate positive change in ourselves and our community. Instead of looking at the disease, Diabetes Hands Foundation seeks to understand, connect and energize the millions of people living with this condition.
About World Diabetes Day, November 1
World Diabetes Day is celebrated on 14 November, a date chosen to mark the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, one of the pioneers in diabetes research. It was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the alarming rise in diabetes around the world. In 2007, the United Nations marked the Day for the first time with the passage of the United Nations World Diabetes Day Resolution in December 2006, which made the existing World Diabetes Day an official United Nations World Health Day. World Diabetes Day is represented by the blue circle logo—the global symbol of diabetes.
About Roche Diabetes Care
Roche Diabetes Care is a pioneer in the development of blood glucose monitoring systems and a global leader for diabetes management systems and services. For more than 30 years, Roche has been committed to helping people with diabetes live lives that are as normal and active as possible and has been helping healthcare professionals manage their patients’ condition in an optimal way. Today, the ACCU-CHEK portfolio offers people with diabetes and healthcare professionals innovative products, services and comprehensive solutions for convenient, efficient and effective diabetes management—from blood glucose monitoring through information management to insulin delivery. The ACCU-CHEK brand encompasses blood glucose meters, infusion pumps, lancing and data management systems. For more information, please visit accu–chek.com.
