Secondary school students in Florida, USA have created a new club called 'We Dine Together', where members take on the personal responsibility to walk around the school cafeteria at lunchtime and ensure that no one looks lonely.
Started at Boca Raton Community High, one of the founders is Haitian immigrant Denis Estimon, who described how the idea came about after witnessing the divisions that existed between students at lunchtime.
"One side is the free lunch kids, the (kids with disabilities). The other side would be the student leadership, the kids that have money." Estimon tells Sun Sentinel.
The 'We Dine Together' club of four meets each Tuesday. It initially started as a more inclusive meet-up where members would talk politics and plan community services but the participants eventually decided to reach out to other kids who were eating by themselves.
"No kid should eat alone," Estimon continues.
"There are so many problems in this world and the only thing that can solve it is relationships."
According to the principal, Susie King, there are 70 countries represented at the school, making friendships for new students from non-English speaking backgrounds hard to establish.
Co-founder, Allison Sealy, discussed that it's also hard for some kids to make friends at school due to the sheer size and pre-existing friendship cliques.
"The purpose is building relationships over the table at lunch," Sealy says in the video above.
"Since I came to Boca High not knowing anybody... it's an issue here - we have over 3,000 kids here and they usually already have their clique of friends - a lot of new kids don't have that.
Estimon hopes to launch a non-profit after he graduates in an effort to expand We Dine Together into other schools.
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