It’s Big Blue Test time again! This is our chance to not only get active, but to help improve the lives of people with diabetes in need. By participating in the Big Blue Test between now and November 14 and sharing the experience online at BigBlueTest.org, you’ll help trigger a grant to non-profit organizations serving people living with diabetes with life-saving supplies, treatments and patient education.
The annual Big Blue Test, a diabetes awareness program of the Diabetes Hands Foundation, takes place in the month leading up to World Diabetes Day (November 14). “This is the fifth year that the Big Blue Test is helping people realize how taking small steps (like a walk around the block) can have a big impact,” says Mike Lawson, Head of Experience at the Diabetes Hands Foundation.
What Does the Big Blue Test Do?
The Big Blue Test reinforces the importance of exercise in managing diabetes.
The Big Blue Test website aggregates all of the blood glucose data collected and calculates the effect of the physical activity. The results gathered over the past four years demonstrate that just 14 minutes of exercise decreases participant’s blood glucose level between 15 and 20 percent on average. “It’s no secret that exercise is good for us,” said Manny Hernandez, president of the Diabetes Hands Foundation. “The Big Blue Test data demonstrates the dramatic effect even a little bit of physical activity can have. Plus by participating in the Big Blue Test we get to help people living with diabetes who are in need.”
The goal for 2013 is to get 20,000 Big Blue Test results logged by November 14. When this goal is reached, $10,000 in grants will be distributed to nonprofit organizations that serve people with diabetes living in need worldwide.
Two US-based nonprofits, St. Anthony’s Medical Clinic in San Francisco, CA and University of Colorado, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Aurora, CO, will receive $2,500 in funding each.
An additional $5,000 will be granted to American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad, Inc. (AYUDA) to support projects in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
These grants will be fully funded if the goal of 20,000 results logged online at BigBlueTest.org is reached by November 14, 2013.
http://youtu.be/0HDpHwXf_ZM
How Do I Take the Big Blue Test?
People with diabetes participate by testing their blood glucose level, getting active for 14 to 20 minutes, testing again, and sharing the results online at BigBlueTest.org or by using the Big Blue Test iPhone and Android app.
People without diabetes can also participate without reporting their blood glucose level.
