ST. LOUIS -- Every three or four days, Jose Martinez plunges into the flooded inbox of his Instagram account, and finds a call for help. They come from his home country of Venezuela, from strangers. They reach out to ask for food, supplies and other necessities that have become hard to find amid the ongoing political and socioeconomic crisis there.
And after appropriate vetting, Martinez often obliges. Several times this season, Martinez has sent crates of aid to people he does not know, people "with actual need" he said. This is on top of the packages he sends home for family, including his two young children.