New Zealand's most famous jar of jam has been sold to an ex-pat Kiwi in Australia - who promptly gave it back to Hospice Mid-Northland along with a hefty donation.
The jar in question was the 10,000th made by Waipapa pensioner Gloria Crawford for the hospice shop in Kerikeri, andwas auctioned via Trade Me by the Advocate in a bid to raise more money for the cause.
Mrs Crawford became a reluctant national hero in 2009 when she took on food safety bureaucrats who had barred the hospice shop from selling her jams, pickles and sauces because they were not made in a dedicated commercial kitchen. Health officials said they had no choice but to take action after receiving a complaint from a member of the public.
Not one to give up easily, Mrs Crawford eventually won the right to go back to donating jam to the hospice shop.
A post on the Advocate's Facebook page about her battle and her 10,000th jar went viral and was read by more than 130,000 people around the world. It attracted thousands of "likes" and hundreds of comments from people in the United Kingdom, United States, Poland, Greece, Denmark, Australia and elsewhere.
The winner of the Trade Me auction was an ex-pat New Zealander in Sydney who wishes to remain anonymous.
Although his winning bid was $110, he transferred $200 to the account of Hospice Mid-Northland and also gave the jar of plum jam back to the Kerikeri-based organisation.
Advocate readers' suggestions for uses for the jam, offered via Facebook, ranged from putting it on display in a glass case to using it to make pudding for the hungry. It will be returned to Hospice Mid-Northland to decide.
