The Shepherdstown Rotary Club’s annual Christmas Charity Ball, which was held last Dec. 6 at the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department Hall, raised a total of $29,627 for 23 nonprofit organizations operating locally.

Both these figures are new records. The highest dollar total previously raised through this event was $28,097, in 2009. The highest number of nonprofit organizations previously benefitting was 20, also in 2009.

The event is entitled “Our Ball, Your Charity.”

Each year, individual Rotarians help underwrite it by sponsoring tables and contributing funds toward the costs of food, beverages, music and decorations. Sponsoring organizations cover the rest of those costs.

All of the proceeds from the sale of tickets to each table are then donated to charities selected by the table’s host.

Each table is also given the opportunity to participate in a silent auction, and all the auction proceeds go to the designated charities as well.

The nonprofit organizations that benefited from the December 6 event were as follows: American Diabetes Association, American Parkinson’s Association, Animal Welfare Society of Jefferson County, the Canal Trust, CASA of the Eastern Panhandle, Catholic Charities Emergency Fund, CraftWorks at Cool Spring, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Friends of Music, Historic Shepherdstown Commission, Hospice of the Eastern Panhandle, Jefferson High School Baseball Boosters, the Lisa McDaniel Team, Panhandle Home Health, Potomac Valley Audubon Society, Rotary Charitable Fund, Rotary Student Exchange Program, Shepherdstown Day Care Center, Shepherdstown Public Library, Shepherdstown Rotary Foundation, Shepherdstown Visitors Center, Water for Life and the Winchester/Frederick Child Advocacy Center.