Sunday Moment: Local photographer honors his mother’s memory by offering free photoshoot to children with cancer

El Paso, Texas-- After losing his mom to breast cancer, El Paso photographer Raymond Lerma decided to honor her memory by doing the one thing she always encouraged him to do. Photography.

“12 years ago I lost my mother to breast cancer and my mom was a kindergarten teacher and she loved kids and I wanted to come up with a way to do something in her honor in her memory," said Lerma.

Before his mother passed away from breast cancer she asked her family to come together for a family photoshoot and it was that moment that led Lerma to pursue his passion in photography.

“She took us to have a photoshoot here at a company in El Paso and we did a large family photoshoot and we were able to document her and get these photos done for her and to this day I cherish those photos,” said Lerma.

Now he is using his passion to give back to other young children who are battling cancer themselves.

Raymond had been following Ervin and Samir's cancer journey on Facebook and wanted to offer them and their families a chance for a free photoshoot, but most importantly a chance for the boys to forgot about their worries for one day and throw on their super hero capes to have a fun filled photoshoot in Downtown El Paso.

The kind gesture meant a lot to both boys moms.

“It was amazing," said Ashley Nevarez, Ervin's mom, "Norma, Samir's mom, contacted me and said that she was handing it over and then out of Raymond's good heart he gifted us both something joint for both of the boys and then individually for our families so we can have a keepsake.”

Kind gestures like this prove that even in the toughest of situations you’re still able to find the good.

"He restores my faith in people," said Norma Cervantes, Samir's mom, "When you see somebody like Raymond it just warms your heart and you wanna do good for others as well.”

This was the first year that Raymond offered these free photoshoots and he hopes to be able to do more shoots in the future.

“Photography is one of my passions and my mom always told me to follow everything I wanted to do and to follow my dreams," said Lerma, "And one of my dreams was to be a photographer and what better way to pay tribute to my mom through the same battle that she fought and helping these kids that are going through the same situation but with a different type of cancer.”