She also has served on the board of directors of Children to Children, Inc. and is an honorary board member for The Dyslexia Foundation.

Also jumping into the fray was Lois Lee, the director of Children of the Night, a Hollywood-based foundation that works to get children off the streets and out of prostitution.

To help, Maria Burgos, director of Children's Aid's Medical Foster Care program, recently sought $200 from the Neediest Cases for clothes.

In response, director and founder of Invisible Children, Jason Russell, promises Jacob that he will help "stop Kony."

Mr. Torres, executive director of Adults and Children in Trust, a child care and education service, said most New Yorkers are taught early not to glance at strangers.

Todd Field, the director and co-screenwriter of "Little Children," said that he understood the impulse simply to walk away, having pulled back from his own acting career before reinventing himself as a director.

"The perception is these guys don't care - they're 'deadbeat dads,' " said Jerry Hamilton, the director of Children Up Front.

Earlier this season I talked for a long while with Todd Field, the serious-minded director of "Little Children."

"I'm director of Children's Protective Services."

Karin DiGia, the director of Children in Crisis, came up with the idea for the exhibit more than a year ago.