Texas sixth grader starts the 'El Paso Challenge' to help community cope after mass shooting

A middle schooler from El Paso has launched a viral Internet challenge to help his city heal after a mass shooting that left 22 people dead last weekend.

Ruben Martinez, 11, created the "#ElPasoChallenge" as a way to spread kindness in the weeks following the tragedy, according to CBS News.

Rose Gandarilla, Ruben's mother, shared a photo of her son on Twitter Sunday, along with a description of the challenge.

It's pretty simple: Ruben and his mom are asking others to commit 22 random acts of kindness, one for each victim who was tragically killed when a gunman opened fire at a Walmart shopping center in El Paso on Saturday. The post originally asked for 20 good deeds, but that number has been changed to reflect the updated death toll.

Ruben's idea came complete with a list of examples, which Gandarilla included in her tweet announcing the challenge. The sixth-grader wrote down ideas such as mowing someone's lawn, visiting a nursing home, taking flowers to the hospital or just telling someone how great they are.

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The concept was born on Sunday while Ruben was struggling to cope with the tragedy

"He was having some trouble dealing with what happened," 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."

The following day, Ruben completed his first good deed — delivering dinner to first responders. CNN reported that Gandarilla and her son have visited different stores around town to help spread the word.

And social media is helping share the message, too. As of Wednesday, Gandarilla's original post has been liked nearly 10,000 times and retweeted almost 5,000 times.