APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – The largest one-day charitable event in the nation, the U.S. Venture Open, returned for its 40th annual golf outing on Wednesday.
What started in 1986 as a charitable event with only 100 attendees now spans six golf courses and 1,300 golfers. The mission is to raise money and combat poverty in northeast Wisconsin.
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Local companies teamed up, intending to raise over $5 million. Some of the top contributors to the event are J.J. Keller, ThedaCare, and Oshkosh Corp.
J.J. Keller’s Monica Stage says it’s not just about golf, but about a collective effort to give back to the community.
“The power of a collective purpose… we are addressing the root causes and the changes needed to help alleviate poverty in our community,” Stage said.
The money raised will be given to charities to create a lasting change.
‘Behind the scenes, we are working together to identify what the needs of the community are, who those friends, neighbors, and partners are that need us the most, and what programs we need to invest in to make substantial changes,” Stage said.
While U.S. Venture is hosting the outing, they will not see a single penny from the event. Shareholder Sarah Schmidt said it’s a chance to give back to a community that has served U.S. Venture so much.
“We are doing it because it is the right thing to do, bringing people together to do good work in the community that is supporting us as a company is really important…to whom much is given, much is expected,” Schmidt said.
The day ended with a dinner at Van Ables featuring actor and philanthropist Jeremy Renner as the guest of honor, who spoke about his personal story of recovery following a near-fatal snowplow incident two years ago.
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A release following the event confirmed that the $5 million goal was hit, with about $5,190,659 raised in the fight against poverty.
More than $70 million has been raised through the event in the last 40 years.
