HOLLANDTOWN — The numbers are staggering and they have nothing to do with the scores at the five soggy area golf courses involved in Wednesday's U.S. Oil Open charity golf event.

The amount raised at Wisconsin's largest charity golf outing was a record-breaking $2,217,800, far more than the initial goal of $1.75 million and $765,800 more than was raised in 2009.

"It is so humbling to think that we can make such a powerful difference for people in need right here in our communities," U.S. Oil Open organizer Sarah Schmidt said in a press release late Wednesday night. "This is a testament to the impact we have as individuals and organizations to end the root causes of poverty right here at home."

The money will be used to help the impoverished throughout the area through the Basic Needs Giving Partnership with the J. J. Keller Foundation and area community foundations in Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh.

With close to 200 volunteers, the golf event is an enormous undertaking. It's a year-long process, according to Terri Green, the foundation manager for U.S. Venture (formerly U.S. Oil Co.).

Green has been with U.S. Venture for 12 years and said she and her staff begin working on fundraising every December. According to the U.S. Oil Open press release, $12.6 million has been raised to fight the root causes of poverty through northeast Wisconsin in the 25-year history of the U.S. Oil Open.

U.S. Oil pays for all the golf outing expenses so the sponsorships, entry fees and donations go directly into the Fund for Basic Needs at each community foundation.

"We do a 'thank you' to those who have sponsored before and we start recruiting again for the new year partners," Green said. "We used to look at the golf outing as an event and now we're looking at it as partners. Everybody is contributing to the U.S. Oil Open Fund for Basic Needs. As we get closer and closer (to the golf event), we start recruiting for golfers.

"We don't have volunteers until the actual events. Then the volunteers spread out and go to the courses and right now it's around 170 to 200 volunteers. When I first started, we had 50 to 75 and now it's almost tripled."

The charity golf event was played at Countryside, Fox Valley, Mid Vallee, North Shore and Wander Springs, with dinner at Van Abel's of Hollandtown. Special guests Arnold Palmer and Nancy Lopez, two of professional golf's all-time greats, highlighted the dinner, which has been a staple at Van Abel's since the first U.S. Oil Open. More than 800 were expected at the dinner Wednesday.

What started with 100 golfers has grown to 750 golfers and more than 300 corporate, family and foundation partners.

"It's a neat event and it keeps growing every year. It's been awesome," Van Abel's general manager Chris Coenen said. "It's grown substantially from last year."

The J. J. Keller Foundation has been a big help in money raised, matching the golf outing proceeds with a contribution of $750,000 in 2010. The partnership with U.S. Oil and its owners began in 2007, according to Mary Harp-Jirschele, executive director for the J. J. Keller Foundation.

"It started four years ago when the Schmidts and the Kellers got together because the Schmidts decided this would become a fund for basic human needs," Harp-Jirschele said. "And that's what the J. J. Keller Foundation focuses on as well. It's a partnership that we have committed to in the long term.

"There's something very charming between the relationship. Both the Schmidts and the Kellers were both grown-from-the-ground-up businesses, so that's part of the tie between the two businesses."

In 2010, the total grants from the Basic Needs Giving Partnership was $1,050,760. The Fox Valley area received close to $700,000 with Green Bay ($247,000) and Oshkosh ($108,000) also benefiting.

Having golf legends like Lopez and Palmer also helps in attracting publicity to the event and both were more than happy to contribute their time.

"It's unbelievable what goes on here and how they raise the money for poverty," Lopez said. "Everybody that's here gives money and gives it from their heart. They're very unselfish and that's what it's all about."

Said Palmer, "I'm interested in what's happening in a lot of local communities in the United States. It's important because we need an uplift right now in this economic situation and anything I can do to push that, I'm fine to do and I enjoy it."

Paul Hoffman, owner of Hoffman LLC, admits that he isn't a great golfer by any means, but was impressed in how the staffs at the various courses were able to get their respective courses playable.

He has been a contributor to the U.S. Oil Open since the first event.

"For me, getting the ball off the ground is a victory, so on a day like today I needed all the roll I could get," he said. "But I thought the people at Mid Vallee, and all the other courses, did a remarkable job with the number of people and I think the golfers were very courteous and respectful because it was very wet. The day turned out to be a beautiful day."