Have you ever heard of a Zine? Until a few months ago, I had only heard brief mention of the term and figured it was just another new phone app or media website. It turns out that a Zine (pronounced “zeen,” like “magazine”) is a self-created news publication in the raw form and has become a very popular news outlet for different organizations. Any topic, format, size and target audience can be utilized when creating a Zine and here at The Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC), we wanted to give it a go.

My first thought was to create something fun and basic, yet interactive for our young patients to read while waiting for an appointment. Or perhaps something that a parent could read, get activity ideas, healthy snack recipe’s and encourage creativity. After some mild research and brainstorming, I came up with the “Helping Hands Zine”, Issue 1, which ties into a January theme.  Although it is cold outside, there are still ways to have fun indoors and embrace the winter season with a healthy attitude and thats what we want to encourage!

During this trial run, we hope to encourage CHC’s Family Wellness Centers in Middletown and New Britain to hand out this small newsletter (designed like an event program) to parents, children, patients or even a friend. One of the highlights in this issue is a simple gardening project and we plan on including seed packets to the first round of prints. This Zine is meant to be a cost-effective, reader-friendly handout that can be accessed and printed from the internet or taken on the go from a waiting room. With a word search included, how can it not be something to work those brain muscles and occupy some time? Please take a look at the PDF version of the Helping Hands Zine  which is available with one click of the mouse.