10
Loading video...
By Martha Faraday
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Witnessing suffering without accepting responsibility is easy. We see the abandoned animal, the hungry family, the isolated neighbor, the struggling community, and tell ourselves that it is not our job to fix it, that the problem is too vast, that our contribution will be too small, or that someone else who has more resources will take care of it.
That is how suffering is perpetuated and becomes normal. People convince themselves that caring does not require action and apathy is acceptable because they do not believe they can make a difference.
Taking action, however, has many forms, and they all make a difference. Seeing and acknowledging a suffering being is already a form of giving, because that awareness removes anonymity by refusing to look away, turn away, or walk away. Speaking up is another form of giving, especially for a being that is voiceless, powerless, and choiceless.
Read More on Leadership Insights
Beyond this, there are also more tangible means of giving, such as volunteering or donating. Donating is not reserved for people with fortunes to spare, and its meaning is not determined by the number on a check. It begins with that decision to see, along with the intention to help. Those are actions, and action is the antidote to apathy and the path to change.
I learned that through horses, but the lesson reaches far beyond a barn.
Once You See You Can't Pretend You Don't Know
Recently, my nonprofit was made aware of four elderly broodmares, mothers whose critical job is to create the next generation. Together, they produced 38 foals for the racing industry. Once their tired bodies could no longer produce babies, they were abandoned, exhausted, starved, and terrified. One was blind in one eye. Another was still lactating after her last baby had been taken from her. I had enough funds for one mare.
I could have saved one and called it a success. But I had seen all of them. Once you see, you cannot pretend you don’t know. I asked my donors to help.
We saved all four. Quickly, their bodies began to heal. Their eyes became hopeful as they realized their lives had been returned to them. The kind people who helped, some of whom had only a few dollars to contribute, saw that their contributions not only made an immediate difference but created a complete transformation.
They were not spectators to a rescue. They saved these mares’ lives regardless of whether they contributed $5 or $100. This is a committed community in action. Not one person, but a group of people who care and are willing to back it up. That is the opposite of apathy.
Participation Tells The Recipient Someone Sees Them
That is what we miss when we think helping is only worth doing if we have a great deal to spare. A large gift can fund enormous work, but a small gift can create something equally important: participation. It tells the recipient that they are no longer anonymous. Someone sees the suffering.
It tells the giver that their choices make a difference. And when people see others act, they feel empowered to act, too. Small gifts add up. When many act, problems that seem intractably huge diminish, but only if enough act; then they would evaporate entirely. When many help, the burden is small. That is the power of community.
The scale of American generosity shows what collective action can accomplish. According to Giving USA, Americans gave an estimated $617.2 billion to charitable causes in 2025, including $394.2 billion from individuals. Giving to environment and animal organizations reached $24.57 billion. Behind those enormous figures are millions of individual decisions to help and to participate in something larger than oneself.
That participation matters when traditional sources of support are under strain. A 2025 study of more than 2,600 nonprofit leaders and 100 philanthropy executives, found that two-thirds are struggling to stay afloat amid federal funding cuts, while nearly 40 percent have reduced staff and more than 40 percent have cut or delayed programs.
When nonprofits are being asked to do more with less, community participation cannot be an afterthought. It is essential to allow the work to continue.
Giving not only changes the lives of the recipients. It can also benefit the giver. Research cited by the Cleveland Clinic links generosity and volunteering with lower stress, greater connection, and a positive mood. Volunteering, as highlighted by a study published in AJPM, is also associated with optimism and a sense of purpose, as well as lowered risks of mortality.
A separate study indexed by the National Library of Medicine notes that helping others can benefit physical health by lowering blood pressure and decreasing stress levels. Giving is not a cure for our personal challenges, but it reminds us that we always have the ability to make someone else’s life better and that helping someone can benefit us too.
...
Apathy Takes a Toll on You Personally and Your Community
Apathy is costly. It takes a personal toll, a community toll, and a toll on all of the lives that we could have changed for the better.
Find the suffering you cannot ignore. Find the problem that stays in your mind after you have turned away. Then do something. Listen. Give an hour. Make a call. Give $5. Feed someone. Help a neighbor. Support a rescue. Bring another person into the effort.
Because there are two possible outcomes. We can turn away from suffering, indirectly supporting neglect and abuse by inaction and allowing big problems to become bigger. Or we can reject apathy by speaking up and acting to change what happens next: to restore an animal, steady a family, strengthen a community, or give one person a reason to believe someone cares.
We do not act because we can fix everything. We act because we refuse to accept that nothing can change. And here is a secret. If all of us help as we can when we can, then problems and the suffering they create will begin to melt away. Nothing can stand in the way of a committed community.
The best time to act is always now.
Martha M. Faraday, Ph.D., is founder of the Brother Bear Equine Foundation and an equine nutrition consultant through Four Oaks Equine Nutrition. She previously served as a scientific review officer at the National Institutes of Health.
The views expressed are the author's own.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines