An 11-year-old boy with a heart of gold is challenging the community of El Paso to commit random acts of kindness as a way to help the city heal from Saturday’s deadly massacre.
In what has been dubbed the #ElPasoChallenge on social media, Ruben Martinez wants everyone to do 22 good deeds for others — in honor of the 22 victims who were killed in the Walmart shooting.
The idea was hatched when the sixth-grader told his mom, Rose Gandarilla, that he was scared to go shopping at stores in the wake of the tragedy, CNN reported.
“He was having some trouble dealing with what happened,” Gandarilla told the network. “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.”
Ruben suggested others could mow someone’s lawn, visit a nursing home, pay for someone’s lunch or dinner or leave a dollar on the vending machine.
“This will show the world that people from El Paso, TX are kind and care for each other,” he wrote.
The thoughtful boy’s first act of kindness was delivering dinner to first responders Sunday night, Gandarilla said.
“He seems to be doing better and says that hopefully, the world will be a better place with all these random acts of kindness,” she said.