Milpitas, California, (Octover 20, 2008). LifeScan, the maker of OneTouch® Brand Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems for people with diabetes, announced today the launch of Global Diabetes Handprint (www.DiabetesHandprint.com) developed in collaboration with the Diabetes Hands Foundation. The Global Diabetes Handprint invites the millions of people with diabetes to submit images of their hand, decorated with words and graphics depicting their personal expressions about living with diabetes. These thought-provoking images will be showcased on the Diabetes Handprint Web site, encouraging visitors to share their own hand images in a welcoming environment. For each image submitted between now and March 31, 2009, OneTouch will donate $5 up to a maximum of $250,000¹ for diabetes charities.

This new initiative was inspired by the "Word In Your Hand™" project created on TuDiabetes.com®, an online diabetes community owned and operated by the Diabetes Hands Foundation.

The funds generated by participation in the Global Diabetes Handprint will be donated to the Diabetes Education and Camping Association (DECA) to support children's diabetes camps and to Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD) to support adult educational and motivational conferences for people with diabetes, those at risk and their loved ones². Participants will designate which organization—DECA or TCOYD—will receive the donation associated with their image submission.

"The idea behind the original 'Word In Your Hand' project was to inspire people with diabetes to connect with one another and not feel so isolated," said Manny Hernandez, president of the Diabetes Hands Foundation. "Now, the Global Diabetes Handprint expands this concept by reaching more people than ever before, encouraging them in their daily struggle with diabetes while giving back to the diabetes community with company donations."

As the Diabetes Handprint Project progresses, the images posted by site visitors will be combined to create an interactive, hand-shaped mosaic. Visitors to www.DiabetesHandPrint.com will be able to search for individual images or view them by moving their cursor across the mosaic. Additionally, there will be a featured image, which will be updated regularly. OneTouch will also select five individuals and their images by December 31, 2008 to later feature in a national promotional campaign for the Global Diabetes Handprint project.

"The 'Word In Your Hand' project on TuDiabetes.com demonstrates not only the impact of personal expression, but also the strength of people coming together as a community," said Ken El-Sherif, Director of Marketing at LifeScan. "We are proud to collaborate with the Diabetes Hands Foundation on an initiative that celebrates the experience of people living with diabetes while allowing their individual expressions to benefit the larger diabetes community."

Visitors to the Global Diabetes Handprint site can submit images two ways--they can upload a digital photograph of their own decorated hand, or they can use a simple online design tool to create a customized word/hand image. As a part of each image posted, participants will also have the opportunity to share their story expressing how diabetes has touched their life.

To participate in the Global Diabetes Handprint, visit www.DiabetesHandprint.com. Submissions will be accepted from individuals who are 13 years or older and are legal U.S. residents. Complete information and rules are available on the Web site.

LifeScan, a Johnson & Johnson company and a leading maker of blood glucose monitoring systems in the U.S., is dedicated to creating a world without limits for people with diabetes. For healthcare professional resources, and information on diabetes care and LifeScan products and services, visit www.LifeScan.com.

The Diabetes Hands Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on connecting people touched by diabetes (diabetics as well as their loved ones) and raising diabetes awareness. It runs two social networks, TuDiabetes.com (in English) and EsTuDiabetes.com (in Spanish).

Word in Your Hand, TuDiabetes and TuDiabetes.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Diabetes Hands Foundation.

¹ Donations are in U.S. dollars.
² Both DECA and TCOYD are non-profit 501c3 organizations.

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