In September, an annual golf tournament started by businessman Doug Miller Sr. in 1985, which has raised a cumulative $2 million for the Children’s Center, celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Most recently, the funds raised have supported critical activities not covered by families’ health insurance, including the work of social workers and Child Life specialists, through the Doug Miller Family Fund. After Miller, who owned several local fuel service stations, died in 2016, Carroll Motor Fuels, a local independent oil and gas distributor since 1907, proudly continued the event and his legacy.

“Doug Miller inspired us,” says Rick Phelps, executive vice president of Carroll Motor Fuels. “We wanted to laser in more toward the community that we serve and that supported us. The Children’s Center is such a great cause, and it’s a local charity that we have all embraced.”

Four decades ago, Miller and his wife, Joyce, started the tournament after their daughter, Jeannette, received care as an infant at the Children’s Center in the 1970s. Miller had also been a longstanding business partner with Carroll Motor Fuels since the 1980s. When the company acquired the property and branding rights to 70 BP service stations in 2006, including Miller’s stations, the relationship deepened. That same year, Miller and Carroll Motor Fuels launched the tournament together, united in their shared commitment to community and care. Since 2016, Carroll has kept the tradition alive by hosting the tournament in partnership with Joyce Miller and Doug Miller Jr.

This year’s event was the 19th Annual Doug Miller Sr. Memorial Golf Tournament. At the Country Club of Maryland in Towson, the day began with breakfast before the golfers teed off for 18 holes. Afterward, there was a dinner and reception at the club. About 150 people attended, including Jeannette Miller, now executive director of the Fellowships & Writing Center at Harvard University, and her family.

Each year, Carroll Motor Fuels partners with the Children’s Center to invite a family to share their story during the reception. This year, Patrick Campbell spoke about his daughter, Analisa, who began limping as a baby and even refused to walk. After months of confusion and unanswered questions, Analisa was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis by Children’s Center doctors when she was 18 months old. With proper treatment and relentless care and support, she has been able to adapt and even thrive while living with this lifelong condition. Now four years old, Analisa attended the event, a bright reminder of the lives touched by the hospital’s care.

“To see his daughter today at the golf tournament, she was full of energy and bopping all around, just as happy as can be,” says Linda Brannan, vice president of human resources at Carroll Motor Fuels. “Stories like theirs really capture the heart of what this tournament is all about.”

George Dover, the longtime director of the Children’s Center who retired in 2016, spoke about the enduring impact of this event. “All of the participants should go home much taller knowing that they had been instrumental in raising the hopes of children and families at the Children’s Center,” he says. “Doug Miller and his family have benefited thousands of families through their efforts.”