Collaboration between a charity golf event and the J.J. Keller Foundation will mean more than $860,000 for organizations targeting poverty in northeastern Wisconsin.

Proceeds from August's U.S. Oil Open combined with a matching grant from the Keller foundation will funnel down to 31 nonprofits through community foundations in Appleton, Green Bay and Oshkosh. The collaboration, known as the Basic Needs Giving Partnership, officially announced the grants today.

The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region will administer nearly $550,000 of the total.

Sarah Schmidt, director of the U.S. Oil Open, said the grant funds will reach programs working to address the causes of poverty. Funding will provide for efforts ranging from health care initiatives for older residents to health and educational programming for at-risk children.

The advisory committee sought proposals that were innovative and those that involved collaborative efforts, Schmidt said. Teamwork, as illustrated through the regional approach to the grants, is key.

"We're trying to find regional solutions to what's truly a regional problem," Schmidt said.

Grants given in the Fox Cities include $25,000 for the Fox Cities Community Health Center to provide bridge funding for the uninsured and underinsured.

The Appleton Library Foundation is receiving more than $31,000 for the public library's Prime Time Family Reading Program aimed at helping children from low-income families to better perform at school.

Michael Kenney, marketing and development coordinator for the library, said the program trains parents and children to bond around reading. Those who speak English as a second language are among the program's targets.

"This grant helps us reach a segment of the population that really needs it the most," he said.

Just as grants will target a broad swath of community needs, the golf outing in itself was a community effort.

The U.S. Oil Open is a separate entity from U.S. Oil's family foundation, and funds raised from the event came from a spectrum of business sponsors and other participants.

Tackling poverty isn't an easy proposition, Schmidt said.

"If it was easy, we would have already figured out how to do it," she said.

Jennifer Wanke, executive director of LEAVEN Inc., said the grants illustrate how the region has made it a priority to care for those in need. The organization will receive $40,000 for its financial assistance programs for those in emergency situations and an increase in clientele due to unemployment.

While everyone is feeling the impact of the poor economy, "we're seeing people reaching deep," she said.

"We're overwhelmed by the generosity in the community," Wanke said.

Click here for the list of Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region grants.