A man who survived the Eaton Fire is on a mission to help brighten Altadena.
While the city rebuilds, René Amy and a group of volunteers are planting poppies around the city as part of their Great Altadena Poppy Project. It’s an initiative to bring hope to a community ravished by last January’s brush fires.
“Naturally and historically, this area, Altadena, was known to have been covered with California poppies,” Amy said.
Amy and his team are working to replenish the community with the native flower by spreading a quarter of a billion poppy seeds across burnt properties in Altadena. He said so far, more than 700 homeowners have signed up to give permission for their properties to participate in the project.
“It’s a multi-prong effort,” Amy said when asked about the inspiration behind his project. Every aspect of this, you can peel back another layer and go, ‘Oh yeah, there’s that aspect, as well.’ It’s mostly for folks like me who lost everything in the fire. My house burned to the ground.”
Kellie Evans and her son, Duncan Atticott, are among the volunteers who raised their hands to help. The duo visited three dozen properties on Thursday to help with the initiative. In addition to spreading poppy seeds to other properties, they also spread some to their home and Evans’ mother’s property, both of which were lost in the Eaton Fire.
“I like to say it’s like getting therapy for free. I’m going to start crying,” and emotional Evans said.
“We won’t have to drive that far to see the poppy bloom this year,” Atticott said.
Amy took on this project almost single-handedly. He said he’s spent roughly $20,000 of his own money to make this initiative come to life as a gift to his community.
“There’s no place I would rather live than in Altadena,” he said. “It’s the sense of community, the natural beauty and the people are great.”
About the Author
