Yellowknife (Jun 05/06) - In 2005, 3,250 calls from the Northwest Territories were placed to the Kids Help Phone.

That number could grow in coming months with the launch of a Yellowknife chapter of the national organization.

It's now being organized and when it's fully staffed, the chapter will be responsible for training volunteers, raising awareness and fundraising for the 24-hour phone and online counselling service offered to youth nationally.

The most important job will be to let youth know there have someone to talk to, and they're just a phone call away.

And according to some city youth, the help is needed.

"There are lots of troubled kids who have lots of problems," said a 13-year-old boy.

He admits that there is substance abuse in his family. When he needs to talk, he usually speaks to other family members.

Another youth, 16, said the Kids Help Phone could have helped him.

"My mom drinks all the time," he said. "I would have (called the line), but I didn't know about it," he said.

The teen said he's been left on his own for periods up to three days.

More than 30 people were at the Side Door Youth Drop-n Centre Wednesday afternoon to see a presentation by Sheryl Hayes, regional director for the Kids Help Phone in Alberta and the NWT.

Challenges in life like the ones facing children and teens are similar to the stories Hayes told listeners at the drop-in centre.

One story in particular touched her heart.

"A distraught mother called and said her son had been having a rough time after he had tried to commit suicide," said Hayes.

"It would be a month before the boy could receive counselling. She wanted to know how to keep her son alive."

It's the immediacy and accessibility that makes this program so important to communities, said Hayes.

The organization employs 100 professional counsellors working for the toll free service and website. All calls are anonymous and the number will not show up on phone bills.

If it's an emergency, the counsellor will contact help and stay on the line until assistance arrives.

The program is designed to help those aged five to 20, but Hayes said Kids Help Phone has received calls from children as young as four, as well as parents, school counsellors and members of the community.

Hayes said the organization had received calls asking the service to start a chapter here, and due to community support from events such as the five pin bowl-a-thon, it seemed a good fit.

Bank of Montreal (BMO) financial services manager Brenda Ferguson will be one of the members of the new chapter.

She helped fundraise for Kids Help Phone while working at BMO in Manitoba and thought she could do the same here.

Ferguson said she is particularly interested in utilizing student ambassadors - students who will go to elementary and junior high schools to talk about the Kids Help Phone - who will do a lot of good in Yellowknife.

"Kids talk to their peers," she said.

Approximately eight people already signed up for the chapter. There are still many spaces to fill for volunteers. They hope to be ready to go within a month. RCMP and Side Door, Victim Services will help start up the awareness program.

The chapter will also run the Share Your Bear program, where gently used teddy bears are donated and tagged with the help phone's information., then given to youth victims of crime or violence.