Congratulations to Carl Hammer, of Carl's Jam Works, who won first place for his White Peach Jam, made with Pomona’s Pectin, at the 2015 California State Fair.

And what does Carl do with his Blue-Ribbon winning jam? He donates it to Rebuilding Together Sacramento, where it is displayed in their office lobby with a suggested donation of $6 a jar or three jars for $15. Best of all, 100% of that donation goes toward keeping low-income homeowners in the Sacramento, California, area safe and healthy in their homes.

Rebuilding Together is the largest nonprofit, volunteer home rehabilitation organization in America with approximately 170 affiliates across the country. They bring volunteers and communities together to improve the lives of low-income homeowners in need. Since 1991, the Sacramento affiliate has improved 5,267 homes and 92 community facilities, contributing over $16,000,000 of improvement value to the community. They can be found at http://rebuildingtogethersacramento.org.

After working in the restaurant industry in sales and owning a restaurant, Carl joined Rebuilding Together Sacramento helping to manage the two Rebuild Days that are held each year, where they repair and rehabilitate about 30 homes owned by low-income homeowners. About 16 years ago, Carl came up with the idea of adding a home safety installation program – now called Safe at Home – that performs nearly 500 safety installations a year. They also make custom indoor and outdoor railings and have developed a new mobile home step installation program. Carl retired from Rebuilding Together Sacramento, but the work continued, and they now also offer fee-for-service safety installations and minor repairs for those who don’t meet the low-income guidelines.

Carl first started making jam for Rebuilding Together Sacramento in 1995 with the proceeds going to the Safe at Home Program. Now, at 91 years old, he averages about 1,000 jars of jam a year (1,400 in 2015!), which amounts to a donation of about $7,000 a year for the program.

Carl's low-sugar jam flavors range from Red Raspberry, Blackberry, Boysenberry, and Marion Berry to Orange Marmalade, Strawberry, Strawberry-Rhubarb, Spiced Peach, and Pomegranate. He loves making his jams with Pomona's Pectin, and says “it keeps me busy and I love doing what I can to help other seniors.”

Up until a couple of years ago, Carl taught a senior fitness class and made his jam, now he makes his jam and volunteers at Rebuilding Together Sacramento helping to get the warehouse and supplies organized and ready for the hundreds of volunteers who work on rehabilitating the homes for their Rebuild Days.

If you’re a jam maker with more jam than you know what to do with, or are looking for a fun jamming project, take some inspiration from Carl and consider low-sugar jam as a way to contribute to your community.

Or find out if you have a Rebuilding Together affiliate in your city or town and check out their website for numerous rewarding opportunities.

Thanks to Carl Hammer and Barbara Withers, Marketing Coordinator at Rebuilding Sacramento, for help with this story and photos.

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