AKRON, Ohio —It’s almost time for the annual Kaulig Companies Championship at the Firestone Country Club in Akron.

What You Need To Know

  • Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron takes place in Akron in July

  • Al Keller has been volunteering at the tournament since the 1960’s

  • Keller’s son in law and grandsons are following in his footsteps as volunteers

The golf championship features PGA golfers 50 and over.

Event organizers said it takes a year of planning to make sure this tournament runs smoothly, and it relies on volunteers like Al Keller.

“I started [volunteering] in 1965,” Keller said. “And it’s like a family reunion, you see people year after year after year. You know, you watch their families grow up. They watch your families grow up."

Keller is on the executive committee for the Northern Ohio Golf Charities and Foundation, which is the volunteer organization that has helped conduct professional golf tournaments at firestone country club for 70 years.

For Keller, volunteering with this organization is a family affair, as his two grandsons and son-in-law, Michael Adolph, are also involved.

“It’s nice to seem them following in the footsteps and take an interest in it,” Adolph explained. “We are just carrying on, and we do it all for the charities and raising money and seeing it all go back to the community.”

Since 1984, the Northeast Ohio Golf Charities and Foundation has helped raise and distribute more than $32 million dollars to organizations like Hearts for Music.

Kitrael Chin, the founder of Hearts for Music, describes it as a special needs orchestra and instrumental ensemble in northeast Ohio, in which some members use iPads as digital instruments.

“They [Northeast Ohio Golf Charities and Foundation] donated for us 10 iPads, so we have been very happy with that. We are a non-profit 501(c) so we rely on donations,” Chin said. “To get 10 more iPads to help 10 more kiddos come on board was absolutely wonderful.”

Keller's grandson, Andrew Adolph, said being able to see the good his family has done over the years has been one of his favorite parts of volunteering.

“Seeing grandpa and dad volunteer out here, it’s been an important part of every summer since I can remember basically,” he said. “We started coming out in the early 2000’s, when we were four years old.”

Now, at 84 years old, Keller said he is proud of the charitable legacy he and his family are leaving behind.

“They take different roles, and really got themselves involved in this tournament, and they found the good of it,” Keller said. “I’m just proud to have them.”

The tournament takes place July 10-14.