Recently in psychology class we learned about something called “the bystander effect.” Essentially, the bystander effect is the tendency for people to watch something bad happen, the people (bystanders) have the idea that someone else will help and someone else will be the one to step up and do the right thing, but everybody is thinking the same thing so nobody ever actually ends up stepping in. Now most people will think that this issue is only associated with bullying, but that is not the case. This issue is everywhere, and where I happen to see it very often is in poor neighborhoods.
People will often think, “Oh, I really feel sorry for the people who don’t have enough food,” or “People should really donate to charity more often,” but not enough people actually act on these thoughts! They all think that someone else will be the one to help, and if we all think this, nothing will get better.
A great way to start to incorporate change and diminish the bystander effect is to start to get more people to take action, and promote their action. Once other people see more and more individuals participating in charitable events, or working at a food pantry, then they themselves will follow in their footsteps and eventually change will come.
With the no1hungry fundraisers, I try to show people just how bad food insecurity in New York really is. After seeing these numbers, some people will think “somebody else will be the one to help,” but when they see how successful the fundraiser has become due to the handful of people that step up, we can bring true help to the community.
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