Diagnosed soon after his birth with a debilitating genetic condition, Philip Wecker spent most of his four years of life at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, where in one year alone he had nearly 100 blood transfusions.

Philip and his parents, Dan and Donna, as well as his three siblings, became familiar fixtures around the hospital’s hallways. The kids found places to play hide-and-seek, and they all had Sunday dinners in one of the conference rooms. If Philip wanted to leave his room, the family put him in a wagon and pulled him around the building while pushing his IV poles. “We’d go all over the hospital, and everybody treated us like we were special,” Donna recalls.

The Weckers also remember many special moments with Philip’s care team. One day when Philip had a seizure, many physicians stayed close by until they knew he was stable. “Not one of those attending doctors would go home,” Dan says. “They skipped everything because they were concerned about Philip.”

Dan and Donna are the longtime proprietors of the Elkridge Furnace Inn, an upscale farm-to-table restaurant in Patapsco Valley State Park. After Philip’s death in 1993, they were inspired by Philip’s surgeon, Chuck Pettus, to make their restaurant a site for fundraising to support the work of the Children’s Center.

They hosted their first charity dinner on July 14, 2002 (Bastille Day), beginning what would become an annual event. At each event, Dan and Donna donate 100% of the proceeds. Over the past 22 years, they have raised more than $240,000 for the Children’s Center, primarily the trauma and burn units and the Child Life Department. 

Philip’s genetic condition remained a mystery during his lifetime. But after his younger brother Cameron developed similar symptoms, the Weckers became part of a study that eventually led to the identification of a gene marker and the naming of this disease: IPEX syndrome (immune dysregulation, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X-linked). By then, more was known about IPEX syndrome. Cameron underwent a bone marrow transplant at the Children’s Center when he was 9 years old, which cured the underlying disease, Donna says.

The Weckers continue to support the Children’s Center each year. This past summer, for the 30-year anniversary of the Elkridge Furnace Inn, the couple hosted Philip’s Day on his birthday. The event raised nearly $10,000.

“The reason we give back is because of the doctors and nurses and the Child Life team,” Donna says. “When we were the recipients of their care while we were in the trenches, it made all the difference in the world.”