We, at the Diabetes Hands Foundation, are proud to present the 4th annual Big Blue Test Video 2012 featuring a community of amazing individuals touched by diabetes! We’re aiming for 20,000 participants this year! Will you be one of them?
We 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.
Diabetes Hands Foundation is pumped to bring you the fourth year of Big Blue Test!
The Big Blue Test helps YOU get active while raising donations for life-saving supplies, treatments, and patient education to non-profit organizations that serve people in need with diabetes.
Diabetes, or not, YOU can be a part of this third-annual grassroots movement! In 2012, Big Blue Test will be open from October 14 through November 14. The test ends on World Diabetes Day.
How can you be a Big Blue Tester? It’s easy!
Big Blue Test Basics:
If YOU have diabetes…
Test your blood sugar
Get active for 14-20 minutes – dance, swim, walk, jog, cycle, jump rope, whatever gets you movin’!
Test your blood sugar again, and record the results at BigBlueTest.org
If you don’t have diabetes…
Get active for 14-20 minutes – dance, swim, walk, jog, cycle, jump rope, whatever gets you movin’!
Then visit bigbluetest.org to record your activity!
Trust us, it works!
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.
PLUS!- If 20,000 tests are logged before November 14th, $100,000 will be donated to diabetes-related nonprofits.
Let’s Big Blue Test it together, community style
With a little help from our friends, also known as YOU, our petition to urge Google to create a Google-Doodle in honor of Sir Frederick Banting has reached 4,500 signatures! What an incredible feat!
To pay tribute to you, members of the powerful Diabetes Online Community (DOC), we are posting the names of those 4,500 individuals who took a minute out of their day to help promote diabetes awareness.
Of the 366 million people with diabetes in the world, almost 100 million depend on insulin to live. Sir Frederick Banting is one of the main discoverers of insulin, and thus a reason why those 100 million individuals with diabetes have survived.
November 14 is Banting’s birthday. His discovery was so significant that November 14th has been designated as World Diabetes Day by the United Nations.
If you haven’t already, let us honor you. Join Diabetes Hands Foundation in requesting that Google create a doodle to honor this great man, to whom people who inject insulin owe so much, by completing and sharing this petition.
Join the movement and sign the Petition that exclaims, “Come-on Google!”
Thank you, members of the DOC. Together, we can move towards a more educated future with diabetes.
Our founder and president, Manny Hernandez has been invited to be the presenter of the Diabetes + Innovation 2012 conference lunch keynote, where he’ll share his views and experiences on “Patients Prescribing Change,” in Arlington, VA, on Monday, September 24th.
In his presentation, Manny will talk about how giving and receiving of support in the patient-to-patient interaction leads to positive change for the patient and practitioner communities; highlight the ability that social media has to accelerate the sharing of new information and patients learning from each other; explain how more engaged and empowered patients can influence and effect change in the healthcare system that will result in improvement all the way around; and incorporate takeaways learned directly from the diabetes community.
The Joslin Diabetes + Innovation 2012 will bring together the best minds across payers, providers, industry, government, research, prevention and treatment, and will act as a powerful marketplace of ideas, partnerships and collaboration to provoke thought, innovation and action that address the cost, productivity and quality of life impact of diabetes on our society and aims to provide a powerful foundation for sustained focus and excitement for advancement in all facets of diabetes prevention, treatment and payment reforms –from social media and gaming to translational research breakthroughs to mobile patient technologies and everything in between.
The presentation by Manny Hernandez will be made available after the end of the event here.
- award, diabetes, Diabetes Hands Foundation, grants, Helmsley, Helmsley Charitable Trust Sustainability Grant
$150,000 grant helps ensure expansion and ongoing success of programs that connect, engage, and empower people touched by diabetes
BERKELEY, CA: September 5, 2012 – The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has awarded a $150,000 sustainability grant to the Diabetes Hands Foundation, which will be used to optimize and expand the foundation’s fundraising program and ensure broader service to people touched by diabetes around the world.
Founded in 2008, the Diabetes Hands Foundation connects, engages, and empowers people touched by diabetes, reaching nearly 1 million people worldwide each year both online and in real life.
“This grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust provides essential support for Diabetes Hands Foundation on its path to greater sustainability. We are thankful for the Helmsley Trust’s continued support as we build upon the successes of our programs that reach people with diabetes and their loved ones,” said Donna Hill, board chair of the Diabetes Hands Foundation.
“We now have dedicated staff and resources to take our development program to the next level,” said Ms. Hill. “This grant ensures that the Diabetes Hands Foundation remains viable as we focus on programs that will increase our outreach to people touched by this chronic health condition.”
“We recognize the value that the Diabetes Hands Foundation brings to the table as one of the leaders of the online community, which is why we want to see them continue to expand and succeed,” said David Panzirer, Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust.
Supporting Diverse Programs Serving People Touched by Diabetes
The Diabetes Hands Foundation development program will support the expansion of an array of programs that connect and empower people touched by diabetes, including:
- Two active online communities, TuDiabetes.org (in English) and EsTuDiabetes.org (in Spanish), with over 930,000 unique returning visitors each year;
- Big Blue Test, a program that emphasizes the positive effect that physical activity has on diabetes management. The Big Blue Test invites people to test their blood sugar, exercise for 14-20 minutes, test again and share their results online. Since 2010 more than 10,000 people have helped themselves by seeing an average drop of 20% when doing the Big Blue Test, and helped others, because with each Big Blue Test entry, the program sponsor has made a matching donation to help people with diabetes in need;
- Diabetes Advocates, a platform that connects nearly 100 leaders in the diabetes online community and supports efforts to improve the day-to-day lives of people living with diabetes.
ABOUT THE LEONA M. AND HARRY B. HELMSLEY CHARITABLE TRUST (www.helmsleytrust.org) The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting effective nonprofits in a variety of selected areas. Since 2008, when the Trust began its active grant-making, it has committed nearly $640 million to a wide range of charitable organizations.
ABOUT THE DIABETES HANDS FOUNDATION (www.DiabetesHandsFoundation.org): At the Diabetes Hands Foundation we 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
Photo: David Panzirer, Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust with Manny Hernandez, Founder of the Diabetes Hands Foundation. Picture by Andreína Dávila
If you are diagnosed with a chronic disease, your doctor can give you the facts, but where can you go for emotional and practical support?
TCOYD’s Steve Edelman discusses with Manny Hernández (President, Diabetes Hands Foundation) and David Edelman (CoFounder, Diabetes Daily and board member, Diabetes Hands Foundation) their personal experiences when dealing with diabetes, and the stories behind the creation of their diabetes support communities.
Manny, an electrical engineer, started TuDiabetes and the Diabetes Hands Foundation because he realized that too many people were living their lives feeling isolated instead of benefitting from the shared experience they could have by connecting to other people with diabetes. This online community and its Spanish counterpart, EsTuDiabetes, offer support, education, and sharing the steps taken every day to stay healthy while living with this very serious condition.
David started Diabetes Daily after experiencing a lack of local support resources for his wife. He created an online community that connects people with diabetes, facilitates education and promotes advocacy.
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When people do the Big Blue Test, they experience an average drop blood sugar in blood sugar of about 20% and their participation translates into a donation made possible by the program sponsor (Roche Diabetes Care, makers of ACCU-CHEK® diabetes products and services).
The aim of the Big Blue Test grants is to help people with diabetes in need, especially those living in communities that are traditionally underserved and are at high risk for or have a high incidence of diabetes. The Big Blue Test Grant makes it possible for people living with diabetes to receive lifesaving supplies, medical tests, treatment, and patient education.
In 2012, when we reach our goal of 20,000 Big Blue Test results between October 15, 2012 and the end of Nov. 14, 2012 (World Diabetes Day), Diabetes Hands Foundation will award US$100,000 in grants to non-profit organizations in the US and overseas with the sponsorship of Roche Diabetes Care, makers of ACCU-CHEK® diabetes products and service. Five grants of US$10,000 will be awarded to organizations in the US and two grants of US$25,000 will be awarded outside the US.
How to Apply for a Big Blue Test grant
Non-profits in the US can submit proposals for funding online at www.BigBlueTest.org/2012-grant-application between Monday, August 13, 2012 and 5pm PDT September 14, 2012. We are looking for proposals that will have a specific and measureable positive impact on people living with diabetes who are in need. Read our FAQ to learn more about applying for this grant. Or go directly to www.bigbluetest.org/2012-grant-application to apply.
Additionally, the Diabetes Hands Foundation is partnering with recognized NGOs to bring US$25,000 in grant funding to two overseas organizations working with people with diabetes who are in need.
If you have any additional questions about the Big Blue Test grants, make sure to read our FAQ.
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2012 DHF Seeds Grant Recipients
Today we are happy to announce the nine innovative diabetes advocacy projects selected to receive DHF Seeds grant funding for 2012. Each of these projects, aimed at connecting, educating or empowering people touched by diabetes, will receive US$2000.
“Our goal is to support promising projects and help advocates through grants that assist them in taking their projects to the next level,” explains Manny Hernandez, president and founder of the Diabetes Hands Foundation.
2012 DHF Seeds grant recipients (l. to r.) Kim Vlasnik, Bennet Dunlap, Lee Ann Thill
Below is a complete list of the recipients of the 2012 DHF Seeds grant.
Category: Connect
College Diabetes Network Chapter Toolkit
CollegeDiabetesNetwork.org
The College Diabetes Network (CDN) is a student-led network aimed at empowering college students with Type 1 diabetes through peer support and access to information. CDN will use the grant to help build chapters faster and more effectivley on 45 campuses nationwide by publishing and distributing a hands-on chapter leadership toolkit.
World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange
www.wddpe.com
Led by diabetes advocate, blogger, and art therapist Lee Ann Thill, the World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange marks World Diabetes Day (November 14th) by coordinating the exchange of homemade postcards that promote healing through creativity, connection, and activism. The DHF Seeds grant will be used to underwrite the work and supplies needed to manage this international event.
You Can Do This Project
YouCanDoThisProject.com
Created by diabetes advocate, blogger, and cartoonist Kim Vlasnik, You Can Do This has, to-date, broadcast videos from over 90 people. Each person tells his or her own diabetes story and encourages others living with diabetes that they too “Can Do This.” The DHF Seeds grant will be used to broaden participation in this ongoing online project that connects people touched by diabetes.
Category: Educate
Drinking with Diabetes
www.YDMV.net and www.theBetesNOW.com
The Drinking with Diabetes guide is aimed at fostering healthful choices and a dialog about alcohol and diabetes between students and their families. This guide will discuss the health implications of drinking alcohol for college students living with diabetes. And it will help students make better choices. The DHF Seeds grant will be used to support the production and distribution of this guide.
LIFT – Levántate!
www.LiftForTeens.org
LIFT – Levántate! is focused on engaging low-income and at-risk youth and adults in managing diabetes with diet and exercise. The DHF Seeds grant will be used to extend bilingual family support for people with diabetes in low-income communities.
The Sweet Lowdown – Broom Street Theater
BSTOnline.org
The Sweet Lowdown, a live theater production, will use music and dance to demonstrate the science of how diabetes works and as a powerful way to educate people and destroy myths about diabetes. The DHF Seeds grant will be used to develop and produce this play at the nation’s oldest thriving experimental community theater—The Broom Street Theater in Madison, WI.
Category: Empower
Riding on Insulin, UK
www.RidingOnInsulin.org
Led by pro-snowboarder Sean Busby, who lives with Type 1 diabetes, Riding on Insulin camps teach snow skills and diabetes management to children and teens living with Type 1. The experience shows families that anything is possible—even with diabetes. The DHF Seeds grant will support conducting a Riding on Insulin camp at an indoor snow-site in London, expanding the reach of this successful camp program.
Rumor Mill
OurWisdomShared.org
Rumor Mill will be a graphic novel aimed at inspiring and informing teens living with Type 1 diabetes. The plot explores how a teen can respond constructively when the very action he must take to maintain his health (i.e., injecting insulin) is misunderstood, mislabeled, and become grist for the rumor mill. The DHF Seeds grant will support the writing, production, and distribution of this graphic novel.
Sweat-Betes
www.Living-In-Progress.com
Developed by Ginger Vieira, a Certified ISSA Personal Trainer, Certified Cognitive Coach, and diabetes blogger, Sweat-Betes will be a series of exercise videos aimed at people living with diabetes. These videos, developed for people with beginner-to-intermediate levels of fitness, will present sound, medically-based instruction and information on how a person with diabetes can exercise safely. The DHF Seeds grant will support the production of this specialized series of exercise videos.
You can view the submission videos for all of these funded projects at https://vimeo.com/channels/2012dhfseeds
Este verano, junto con la visita que realizamos a Haití, tuvimos la oportunidad de participar en el campamento organizado por los hermanos de Aprendiendo a Vivir, una ONG dominicana, fundada por José Antonio López y dirigida por la Lic. Sandra Jáquez. Aprendiendo a Vivir ejecuta programas que ponen en mano de los diabéticos Dominicanos todos los recursos necesarios para una educación en Diabetes de Calidad Mundial.
Para hacer el campamento posible, Aprendiendo a Vivir colaboró con Ayuda, Inc., una organización basada en Estados Unidos que desarrolla jóvenes para servir como agentes de cambio en comunidades de personas con diabetes en el mundo entero. Ayuda, Inc. va a recibir $25 mil dólares en conexión con el programa Big Blue Test (la Gran Prueba Azul) este año, para apoyar su trabajo en la República Dominicana y Ecuador.
Este video muestra como las vidas de cientos de familias afectadas por la diabetes en República Dominicana están siendo transformadas gracias a la labor de Aprendiendo a Vivir y Ayuda, Inc.
En la foto, Merith Basey, de Ayuda, Inc.; Manny Hernandez, de Diabetes Hands Foundation; y José López, de Aprendiendo a Vivir.
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We visited Haiti and Dominican Republic to meet with the groups helping people touched by diabetes there: FHADIMAC, Aprendiendo a Vivir, and Ayuda, Inc. They will receive a total of $50,000 in grants connected to our Big Blue Test program. This post focuses on the nearly two-day long part of the trip to Haiti and the impact it had on all of us who visited…
From the moment we arrived in the International airport, the impact of the earthquake could be felt. Most of the terminal (as you can see in the photo above) is still being rebuilt. Those arriving are welcomed into a smaller temporary terminal, where local musicians play an upbeat song every time a group of travelers approaches. I couldn’t help but notice the irony that, in spite of the sorry state of the rest of the airport, there were already some respectable-sized ads hanging on the walls of the temporary terminal… this wouldn’t be the last irony I encountered.
As you leave the airport, the reality of the city starts to sink in. Painted pick-up trucks, so-called Tap-Tap’s, constitute the main form of public transportation in Port-Au-Prince, which comes in handy as you notice that many of the roads require 4-wheel drive. Traffic can be challenging for the most astute drivers, not only because of the conditions of the pavement but considering the scarcity of traffic lights and the almost ubiquitous use of car horns, sometimes not to get other cars to move over but honked as a way to say “Thanks!” when people are helpful.
The contrasts are non-stop. One one end you see the buildings for the phone companies, tall and modern (the tallest around), right across from ad hoc markets lining up the streets, with lots and lots of people selling products right next to each other, or carrying fruit, furniture, or boxes on their heads. There are so many street vendors next to each other and taking up sidewalk and street space in some places that some two-way streets are reduced to 1.2-way streets, where cars have to take turns to pass, so as to not run over pedestrians or improvised vending stands.
I asked many times why there were so many people on the streets. Part of the answer has to do with the number of people living in Haiti: 10 million, concentrated in a smaller space than their 10 million Dominican brothers and sisters across the border, in a territory nearly half as small. The other part of the answer broke my heart. So many people share living spaces that they take turns to sleep, they sleep by rotation…
When you consider that 60% of the people in Haiti live with less than US$2 per day, 25% of those live with less than under $1 per day, and 300,000 people older than 20 years old have diabetes, it’s hard to imagine how find the motivation to get up every day and hustle to make a living. Yet, they do. And I found the most inspiring example of motivation and empowerment PRECISELY in the team run by Dr. Nancy Larco, current head of FHADIMAC, the only association working in Haiti towards playing an essential role in the daily lives of thousands of people with diabetes and hypertension.
One of the most powerful stories I heard was the story of Widney (in the photo with me, above). EVERY morning he rides a tap-tap from his home to Port-Au-Prince: a 2-hour long ride. He lives with type 1 diabetes and he credits Dr. Larco for saving his life and his sister’s life (she also has type 1 diabetes): without FHADIMAC, they wouldn’t have access to insulin and they wouldn’t have gotten diabetes education to help them make the best possible choices with regards to their lifestyle in connection with diabetes.
As a way to give back, every day he helps screen over 200 people in downtown Port-Au-Prince: he attracts passers-by with a bullhorn and testes their blood sugar. Thanks to this effort, more than 10,000 people have been screened in the past year and hundreds of them have been found to have diabetes. These are people who otherwise would be walking ignorant of their condition and not taking the care they need to take to avoid complications and live a long and healthy life.
Stories of empowerment such as Widney’s are profoundly inspiring. These are people who have turned their challenges into opportunities to be thankful and help others. Above is the photo we took together. You can see more photos from this trip on the Haiti 2012 album in TuDiabetes.
Donna Hill, lawyer and diabetes advocate elected Foundation Chair
With diabetes incidence at a global all-time high, the Diabetes Hands Foundation today announced the election of Donna Hill, as Chair of the Board. Along with Ms. Hill, diabetes advocate, Melissa Lee, was elected Secretary of the Foundation Board of Directors at the Board meeting in Philadelphia last week.
Founded in 2008, the Diabetes Hands Foundation connects, engages, and empowers people touched by diabetes, with a yearly reach nearing 1 million people.
Ms. Hill, is Vice President, Legal at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. She has been actively involved with the TuDiabetes.org community run by the Diabetes Hands Foundation since 2010, and was diagnosed with Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA) in 2008. She said: “The Foundation has made a difference in my life and the lives of tens of thousands of people touched by diabetes around the world. I am honored to have been elected Chair, and I look forward to working with the Board, committees, and the staff to serve the growing number of people touched by diabetes.”
Ms. Lee was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1990 at the age of 10. Now a wife and mother of two young children, she is a professional singer and private voice instructor, and has served as the lead administrator for TuDiabetes.org since 2008, leading the all-volunteer administrative team in moderating and enriching the online community.
The Foundation Board acknowledged co-founder, Manny Hernandez, who will continue to serve as President of the Foundation to spearhead the organization’s continued growth. Hernandez is stepping down as Board Chair, a position he has held since 2008. The Board also praised co-founder and Creative Director, Andreina Davila, who served as Secretary of the Board since 2008 and remains a member of the Board, while Henkel Garcia, Chief Executive Officer of Vision de Inversion in Caracas, Venezuela, was confirmed as Treasurer by the Board.
The election comes on the heels of the recent announcement by Diabetes Hands Foundation about the election of six outstanding new members to the organization’s Board of Directors, including Dr. Anne Peters, Jack Diaz, Adam Kaufman, Melissa Lee, Lorraine Sisto, and Juan Carlos Turriza: http://www.diabeteshandsfoundation.org/2012/05/board-of-directors-at-diabetes-hands-foundation-grows.
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.
(Left to right: Manny Hernandez, President; Donna Hill, Chair; Melissa Lee, Secretary; Melissa’s new baby)
