Diabetes Hands Foundation (DHF) announced today that it is the recipient of two Telly Awards for the diabetes awareness video Big Blue Test (BigBlueTest.org).

“We are proud and thrilled that our grassroots online video effort to raise awareness of diabetes has earned this recognition,” said Manny Hernandez, President of the Diabetes Hands Foundation (DHF) and founder of TuDiabetes.org, a social network of people touched by diabetes.

DHF received one 2011 Silver Telly Award, the competition’s highest honor, for Online Programs in the Social Issues category for the Big Blue Test video. The organization was also awarded one bronze prize for the Health and Wellness category.

The 2010 Big Blue Test video was produced by DHF in collaboration with David Edelman of Diabetes Daily (http://diabetesdaily.com) and Riva Greenberg of Diabetes Stories (http://diabetesstories.com). The video was directed and edited by Sean Ross (http://ethosphane.com). Roche Diabetes Care helped fund the initiative.

The video promoted the 2010 Big Blue Test, an awareness campaign to encourage exercise for those with diabetes. In conjunction with World Diabetes Day on November 14, DHF invited people with diabetes to test their blood sugar, do 14 minutes of activity, test again and share the results. The video was translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French and German, expanding the number of people who could watch it, understand the message and share it. Diabetes continues to be poorly understood by the general population. The Big Blue Test video helped increase public awareness and engaged viewers in a positive learning experience.

The video, which is less than 2 minutes long, features children and adults who have diabetes skating, running, swimming, dancing and cycling. “The Big Blue Test and the video message resonated with people,” said Riva Greenberg, writer and collaborator on the content development of the winning production. “We aimed to make people aware of the importance of activity in managing diabetes, and help children in need of everyday supplies to live.”

Roche Diabetes Care committed to make a donation of 75 cents, up to $75,000, to diabetes-related charities for every viewing of the Big Blue Test video. The video went viral and was viewed over 130,000 times.

The 32nd Annual Telly Awards competition received over 13,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries. Founded in 1978, the Telly Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and web commercials, videos and films. Winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world.