Hundreds of Canadians have joined the call to bead fireweed flower pins for frontline workers to show appreciation and gratitude for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This heart-felt project began in Yukon’s Dawson City, when Kyla Popadynec, a Dawson City hospital employee, came up with a creative way to show support for healthcare professionals. She gathered a handful of friends and together they began to bead the pins, choosing the fireweed design for its deeper meaning of ‘strength, healing and renewal’.
The trend quickly spread across Yukon Territory and, to date, more than 350 people from across Canada have joined the project. Popadynec and her fellow Fireweed Heroes are committed to showing support for frontline workers for the duration of the pandemic, however long it should last.
“The beauty of being a part of this amazing project is seeing so many people picking up the needle to make these pins,” says Jackie Olson, a member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation and Fireweed Heroes participant. “Putting good thoughts towards something of value is healing and gives something positive to focus on.”
