The A.D. Makepeace Company contributed $650 to local food pantries on Monday, December 19, on top of the $8,375 donated last month as part of the annual Cranberry Harvest Celebration.

The Marion Social Club was just one of many organizations that benefited from the donation.

Each year, the company donates proceeds from the harvest event to the local organizations which sent volunteers to help the Columbus Day event run smoothly. A total of 206 local residents, cranberry growers, and Makepeace vendors volunteered this year.

"This is just one of the many ways our communities benefit from the Cranberry Harvest Celebration, said A.D. Makepeace Company President and CEO Michael P. Hogan. "In addition to the donations which go to local nonprofits, the Celebration represents an opportunity for local artisans to sell their wares, for local families to enjoy an inexpensive day out, and for restaurants, inns, convenience stores, and others to extend their tourism season.

A.D. Makepeace also donated to the Plymouth United Methodist Church, Buzzards Bay Habitat for Humanity, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Plymouth and Sandwich Boy Scouts of America.

This year's Harvest Celebration attracted approximately 32,000 visitors. Tourists came from throughout the United States and as far away as Japan, Great Britain, Germany, and Norway. More than 750 people toured the harvest via a Firefly, Inc. helicopter and 344 people took boat rides on Tihonet Pond.

Hogan noted that this year's strong cranberry crop -- Makepeace harvested a record 383,349 barrels of cranberries -- will result in an increase in funding available through the Makepeace Neighborhood Fund, the company's charitable foundation.

Grant applications for nonprofit and government organizations will be available on the A.D. Makepeace website, www.admakepeace.com, beginning the first week of January.