London-based Canada Life has made a $1-million donation to Kids Help Phone, a nationwide crisis line for youth that the insurance giant hopes other corporations will support.
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The seven-figure gift, announced on Thursday at Canada Life’s downtown London headquarters, will go toward the non-profit’s $300-million Feel Out Loud fundraising push that aims to expand what it calls “e-mental health services” to young people nationwide.
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“I’m really proud that we made this announcement in London to lead other companies to participate,” Canada Life’s president, Jeff Macoun, said. “We try to recognize all different events, but Kids Help Phone will be critically important for us.”
He added: “Kids need help.”
Lindsey Coulter is associate vice president of communications for Kids Help Phone. She says it has many conversations with London youth – 20,000 by text since that service began in 2018 – and that makes a local company’s support all the more meaningful.
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The agency also has a plan for Indigenous youth, which was launched in 2018 and allows young people to text in Indigenous languages Plains Cree and Ojibwe. A service dedicated to Black youth began last year.
“Our data shows that most of our distressed users were dealing with a racialized situation, and we wanted to dig deeper into this and be there for the Black community,” Coulter said.
Kids Help Phone launched in 1989 to offer free support by telephone to any young person across Canada. Those who call – or, more likely today, text – can access crisis support, mental-health tips and professional counseling 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The nonprofit navigated the toughest chapter of its 35-year history amid the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the number of people contacting them for help jumped by more than 350 per cent. Not one call or text was missed, which Coulter counts among Kids Help Phone’s greatest accomplishments.
“We’re always continuously evolving and innovating to meet young people on the platforms,” Coulter said.
Young people in need of support can contact Kids Help Phone by texting CONNECT to 686868 to chat with a crisis responder. Those who prefer to talk to someone can call 1-800-668-6868.
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