Fire to flower: Fireweed provides symbol of hope to frontline workers
A group of beaders in the Yukon are spreading hope through beaded pins to their community and beyond.
Chamaenerion angustifolium, known in North America as fireweed, is the first flower to bloom after a wildfire.
The name fireweed stems from its ability to colonize areas burned by fire rapidly, and it’s recently been providing a symbol of hope to frontline workers in the Yukon.
Kyla Popadynec, who works at the Dawson City Community Hospital in the Yukon, wanted to do something special for the nurses and doctors she works with. That’s when she came up with the idea to create flower pins, as a way to show gratitude to frontline workers.
What started as a small community of beaders quickly grew to hundreds -- and now the group is creating the pins for all frontline workers including bus drivers, paramedics and construction workers.
Word of the beaded pins has since spread beyond the Yukon, and now people from across Canada are reaching out to Kyla for one of their own.
Reporter Mia Gordon has more on this inspiring story in the video above.
Thumbnail courtesy: Herbert Grambihler/Unsplash