El Paso boy creates #elpasoCHALLENGE to help community honor victims of mass shooting

11-year-old Ruben Martinez came-up with #elpasoCHALLENGE to honor the victims of the city's mass shooting. "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," his proud mother tweeted. less 11-year-old Ruben Martinez came-up with #elpasoCHALLENGE to honor the victims of the city's mass shooting. "He challenges ALL El Pasoans to commit 20 Random Acts of Kindness. One for every person that was ... more Photo: Rose Gandarilla Photo: Rose Gandarilla Image 1 of / 90 Caption Close El Paso boy creates #elpasoCHALLENGE to help community honor victims of mass shooting 1 / 90 Back to Gallery

11-year-old Ruben Martinez and his mom, Rose Gandarilla, were attending a fundraiser Saturday about a mile away from the El Paso Walmart when they realized something was wrong.

"We saw about 20 emergency vehicles headed to the mall," Gandarilla told Chron.com.

They soon learned that one of their favorite stores had become the scene of one of the deadliest mass shootings in Texas history.

In the wake of the massacre, Ruben's mom said he was having a hard time dealing with the tragedy.

"He asked if we could find a grocery service that delivers so we never have to go to the store again," said Gandarilla.

The school administrator counseled her son on how to cope with his feelings. "I told him why don't you think of something you can do to make people feel better?"

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The boy took the advice to heart, and came up with #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," the proud mother tweeted.

Ready to lead by example, Ruben put his idea to paper. It reads:

#elpasoCHALLENGE

Purpose: To honor the people who got killed in our city.

How: I'll challenge each person in El Paso to do 20 good deeds for each other.

Examples: Mow someone's lawn, visit a nursing home, pay for someone's lunch or dinner, donate to families in need, write a letter to someone and tell them how great they are.

The list of good deeds goes on. Ruben even encouraged people to create posters, flyers, and post to Facebook.

"This will show the world that people from El Paso, TX are kind and care for each other," wrote Ruben.

The idea caught fire, quickly getting over 2,000 shares on Facebook and 800 retweets on Twitter.

"We even got messages from Germany saying they would take part in the challenge," said Gardarilla.

While she is proud of her son's act of compassion, she says it's not the first time he has opened his heart to the community. She says when he saw the success of an Operation Santa in another city, he started a similar program in his hometown.

She's hoping in the long run, El Paso will be remembered for one child's act of kindness instead of another man's act of madness.

Danny Hermosillo is the Digital News Editor for Chron.com | Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @Dannyherm1| Email him at Danny.Hermosillo@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message