11-Year-Old Starts 'El Paso Challenge' To Encourage Kindness And Help His Community Heal

August 7, 2019

An 11-year-old boy in El Paso, TX, has started the "El Paso Challenge" to encourage kindness to one another in response to the Walmart shooting.

My 11 year old came to me with an idea. #elpasoCHALLENGE He challenges ALL El Pasoans to commit 20 Random Acts of Kindness. One for every person that was killed in our city’s mass shooting. Let’s get this done El Paso. @abc7breaking @kels1142 @YsletaISD @EPPOLICE @elpasoisd pic.twitter.com/pvy5Q9G4f6
— Rose (@rgandarilla99) August 5, 2019

Ruben Martinez is challenging each person in El Paso to do 22 acts of kindness for others in honor of the 22 people who died that day.

"He was having some trouble dealing with what happened," his mother, Rose Gandarilla, told CNN. "I explained to him that we could not live in fear and that people in our community are caring and loving. I told him to try and think of something he could do to make El Paso a little better."

Since then, Ruben has been passing out flyers and posting on social media to try and help the #ElPasoChallenge spread.

The 6th grader is also leading by example.

"Last night, he agreed to go out to do his first act of kindness," Gandarilla said. "He chose to go deliver dinner to our first responders."

An 11-year-old boy from El Paso saw his community grieving after Saturday's mass shooting and wanted to find a way to help them heal.

He and his mom started the #elpasochallenge, encouraging people to spread 22 acts of kindness.

Here’s @NorahODonnell https://t.co/GZDhMhkGmL pic.twitter.com/mj2DA7ZgZ8
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) August 6, 2019