Cheestrings and Kids Help Phone recently launched a campaign to help school kids struggling with lunchtime loneliness and social anxieties.

“No Lonely Lunches” is based on a new study, commissioned by Lactalis Canada’s Cheestrings, that found 68% of kids experience social challenges at school, according to their parents. Of that number, 49% of parents state that lunch time is the most challenging time of the day for their kids.

To help address this issue, Cheestrings is replacing its logo with the Kids Help Phone 24/7 phone and text number on their snacks across Canada throughout this fall.

“The ‘No Lonely Lunches’ initiative encourages parents and children to open conversations around this important topic and offer support to children experiencing challenges,” Elyse Horrigan, brand manager for Cheestrings-Ficello, tells strategy.

“This campaign aims to reduce the stigma of mental health and promote help-seeking behaviour among youth by raising awareness of the issues of the challenges youth are facing and creating easy pathways for conversation,” adds Horrigan.

“No Lonely Lunches” will also feature online and OOH advertising including stark illustrations of the challenges school kids are facing. Additionally, $100,000 will be donated to Kids Help Phone by Cheestrings, whose parent company Lactalis has been partnering with KHP for 35 years through sponsorships, donations and awareness campaigns.

Jenny Yuen, senior vice president of strategic partnerships for Kids Help Phone, said data shows one in three young people who reach out to its service via text feel distressed at the thought of going back to school. “Having a safe space to Feel Out Loud can be an important step to showing youth they’re not alone.”

Broken Heart Love Affair took care of the creative, while Heads+Tales provided PR.

In August, Lactalis partnered with Kids Help Phone on a “Snack, Give & Win” campaign, which raised $40,000 for the youth organization. The idea of the campaign was to help parents navigate expenses and cost challenges linked to back-to-school. The supporting creative demonstrated how “frazzled” parents can feel around this time of year, and why they should relax.