Big Win: The extraordinary year-round result of a special week.

Something beautiful happens at the end of each AT&T Pro-Am: The real work starts.

The scale of the tournament’s volunteer-driven impact is striking in its raw numbers – last year pulled in nearly $7 million for charity; to date, over $73 million has been raised and distributed through the Monterey Peninsula Foundation – but more telling in the faces brightened at the YMCA, the Alliance on Aging and Food Bank for Monterey County. Scores of such local groups win $3,000 to $240,000 in annual grants.

While the AT&T is the perennial readers poll favorite in the Best Local Event category (to vote, visit www.montereycountyweekly.com/vote), a vote for the Pro-Am is also a vote for all the events it helps support, including The Carmel Bach Festival, the Jazz Festival and First Night Monterey. Unsurprisingly, the scores of groups supported include past winners for Best Local Nonprofit like CASA of Monterey County and John XXIII AIDS Ministry, who have received tens of thousands in support. (Community Foundation for Monterey County, a linchpin whose local work can’t be overstated, gets hundreds of thousands to further disseminate.)

And with relatively recent additions of Birdies for Charity and the First Tee Open widening the efforts underway, the good works are only getting better.

For more foundation, grant and donation information, call 649-1533 or visit http://www.montereypeninsulafoundation.org