Ruben Martinez and his mom shopped at the Walmart in El Paso, Texas the day before the mass shooting there killed 22 people. The 11-year-old boy was shocked and anxious after the event and didn’t want to leave his house, but his mom, Rose Gandarilla, challenged him to think of something that would “show the kindness of El Paso.”
The sixth-grader came up with the #ElPasoChallenge, which encourages people to do 22 acts of kindness in memory of the 22 victims of the shooting. He kicked off the challenge by bringing Taco Bell to feed first responders and now that word of his challenge is spreading, he hopes others will get involved. Ruben says seeing the kindness in others is already helping him move forward.
“I want to show people that El Pasoans are good,” he explains. “They’re loving and are caring and are willing to do anything to help out.”
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