Jul 16, 2026 · 3 min · 3 segments
Rene Amy lost his home and everything he owned in the Eaton Fire, along with many of his neighbors. The Great Altadena Poppy Project is just one of the numerous ways he’s been giving back to his…
Rene AmyGuest
Heather JordanHostAs Altadena continues to rebuild after the devastating Eaton fire, we check in with a former KNX Hero of the Week who sowed millions of poppy seeds to help bring the community back to life.
Here's Heather Jordan.
[upbeat music] You may have noticed an abundance of color within the neighborhoods of Altadena this past spring, rising from the ashes of what was once sturdy homes and bustling businesses.
We first caught up with Rene Amey of Altadena early in the year as he sowed over 250 million poppy seeds to poppify the community.
We lovingly nicknamed him the Poppy Poppy, and since then, many of those beautiful flowers have bloomed.
Uh, also a good chunk of them did not, which is actually not as, um, bad a thing as one might think, 'cause we had plenty of poppies for everyone to enjoy.
And also now we have the promise with this super El Nino headed our way this fall that those that did not come up and bloom will come up and bloom for next year.
The growth of each flower brings a positive outlook, and every poppy a symbol of light and joy to a community rebuilding, especially during the tough moments.
I'm all about, uh, encouraging folks, not only around Altadena but the region, the nation, and now the world, to enjoy the beauty of California poppies.
Getting through tho- those bad days, it gives me the surety, the knowledge in myself that I can get through and past this stuff.
But there has been universal acceptance of the great Altadena Poppy project, showing Southern California and the entire world that a little bit of effort and a lot of love can really make a big change.
At a fundamental human-to-human level, this has been a wondrous and wonderful thing for the community.
And that really, uh, lightens my spirit, makes it not just possible to go on, uh, from day to day, but it super encouraging to me to look forward to, [laughs] dare I say, whatever's next.
Check out more stories like this at the Heroes page at knxnews.com. I'm Heather Jordan for KNX News.
As Altadena continues to rebuild after the devastating Eaton fire, we check in with a former KNX Hero of the Week who sowed millions of poppy seeds to help bring the community back to life.
Here's Heather Jordan.
[upbeat music] You may have noticed an abundance of color within the neighborhoods of Altadena this past spring, rising from the ashes of what was once sturdy homes and bustling businesses.
We first caught up with Rene Amey of Altadena early in the year as he sowed over 250 million poppy seeds to poppify the community.
We lovingly nicknamed him the Poppy Poppy, and since then, many of those beautiful flowers have bloomed.
Uh, also a good chunk of them did not, which is actually not as, um, bad a thing as one might think, 'cause we had plenty of poppies for everyone to enjoy.
And also now we have the promise with this super El Nino headed our way this fall that those that did not come up and bloom will come up and bloom for next year.
The growth of each flower brings a positive outlook, and every poppy a symbol of light and joy to a community rebuilding, especially during the tough moments.
I'm all about, uh, encouraging folks, not only around Altadena but the region, the nation, and now the world, to enjoy the beauty of California poppies.
Getting through tho- those bad days, it gives me the surety, the knowledge in myself that I can get through and past this stuff.
But there has been universal acceptance of the great Altadena Poppy project, showing Southern California and the entire world that a little bit of effort and a lot of love can really make a big change.
At a fundamental human-to-human level, this has been a wondrous and wonderful thing for the community.
And that really, uh, lightens my spirit, makes it not just possible to go on, uh, from day to day, but it super encouraging to me to look forward to, [laughs] dare I say, whatever's next.
Check out more stories like this at the Heroes page at knxnews.com. I'm Heather Jordan for KNX News.
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