I met ShelterBox USA ambassador Rene Amy, reeking of smoke and wearing turquoise women’s pants, after the Eaton Canyon fire destroyed his Altadena home on Jan. 7, 2025.
“Fashionable, I must say,” Rene joked and laughed, as is his way. “They belong to my partner Jean. They’re all I could grab from home.”
A year later, Rene’s property at 279 W. Calaveras St. is an empty lot, except for a new mailbox, 19 blackened tree stumps, and piles of tools along a charred cyclone fence.
“Where the hell am I?” Rene asked me. “I realize that it’s my property, but emotionally, it’s an unfathomable wasteland.”
The 65-year-old father of two adult children says he’s researching the best options for rebuilding, while he continues a head-spinning crusade of good deeds. He just finished playing Santa Claus at community events and is now spreading poppy seeds over the Eaton fire zone.
Rene immediately began helping in his beloved Altadena community right after the fire. All of us at ShelterBox knew about his altruistic passion. Rene figures over several years he’s spoken to at least 1,000 people about ShelterBox and its global mission to restart people’s lives after disaster by providing critical supplies.
Rene and I first teamed up after the Eaton Canyon Fire, handing out our ShelterBox solar lights that can charge phones, the same thermal blankets that we distribute in places such as Ukraine and northern Syria, and heavy plastic bags to store newly received donated supplies.
Rene introduced us to fellow local Rotarians Sandra and Jose Valenzuela, superheroes in Altadena’s recovery, because they offered up something precious – the parking lot of their Grocery Outlet store.
From there, L.A. County Health Services, ShelterBox, and other charities handed out everything from protective gear to water to displaced residents.
Rene and the ShelterBox squad focused on providing blankets, lights, pillows, cookware sets, much of it courtesy of Amazon Disaster, and eventually 1,000 air purifiers donated by Intellipure. Some people openly cried in their cars when they received the purifiers that they knew would help them breathe in the awful, post-fire conditions.
“I tried to limit my own exposure to clouds of dust, but otherwise soldiered on,” Rene said. One of his top post-fire missions was to clear his 200-foot-long lot, which he once nicknamed “the forest” because of its many trees.
The property served as a vast depot for all of Rene’s jack-of-all-trades projects. As a contractor, Rene installed all manner of cabinetry. He focused on historic structures, doing challenging kitchen, bathroom, and other remodels.
Rene described what once stood here: a garage, attached workshop, sheds, and a revamped U-Haul for storage. It all burned. Rene estimates he lost half a million dollars in tools and event supplies.
“Hammers for specific purposes,” he began. “Nail guns, specialty ones worth 800 dollars, two gas hydraulic earth drills, a gas hydraulic paint sprayer, a whole bunch of tools for installing cabinets and doors, a large collection of hand drills going back to the 1800s, JBL speakers, subwoofers, picnic tables, and a two-foot-diameter disco ball.”
Amy says he never insured the equipment because he had no fear of burglary or fire, and the insurance rates were high. Rene intended to sell off the equipment and tools. He now jests he’ll have to work until he keels over.
“I feel a loss of history,” said Rene. “These tools were an extension of myself. Losing the immediate ability to grab whatever I needed to do a particular job took away a portion of who I am.”
Other parts of Rene’s complex identity include holding a law degree and a double-major Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Theatre & Drama from Indiana University.
Rene now says his gaze is forward, leading the “Great Altadena Poppy Project.” Rene, with the help of community partners, plans to scatter a quarter billion poppy seeds to “anyone who signs up to have their properties popified.”
Rene predicts a poppy profusion for Altadena in a couple of months.
“Waiting for the seeds to bloom is something to look forward to,” Rene said. “Before we (humans) all came along, poppies were here — long before we built Amazon fulfillment centers.”
Rene’s headquarters for the poppy seed project is about 15 minutes away from his property, in the Airbnb he rents. He’s still so active in and around Altadena, he played Santa Claus at holiday gatherings, and will support small businesses at a Thursday event.
His upcoming promotions for ShelterBox USA include stationing himself at an information table during a Southwest Rotary Conference in March.
All of his ceaseless advocating for others helps him deal with the loss of his house. He’s now a mix of incredibly kind and battle-hardened.
“Given the way this year has gone and the challenges that it has presented, now whatever ever **& storm hits, I know I’ll get through,” Rene laughed again.
