Strike a Match

But Toronto-based Kids Help Phone (KHP) — a toll-free, 24-hour, bilingual, anonymous phone-counseling, Web-counseling and referral service for children and youths — often encounters a different kind of feeling come the holidays.

“A lot of the stories and calls and conversations we have are at Christmas and the holidays time,” says Susan MacLean, KHP’s manager of annual giving. “It can be a very challenging time period for [the children who call in]. Something happens in their life, and they think they’re supposed to be happy but they’re not, so they feel left out.