By Alfonso Aguilar
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/18/04)

With great enthusiasm and unique energy Bishop O’Connell High School students participated in the annual SuperDance, a 12-hour event aimed at raising money to find a cure for cystic fibrosis, a fatal illness affecting thousands.

The 29th SuperDance, held last Saturday at theBishop O’Connell gym in Arlington, raised $171,000. The amount does not include other donations or pledges that usually come in the days following the dance.

Since its inception, the SuperDance has raised nearly $2.4 million, making it the largest high school charity event for cystic fibrosis in the nation and one of the largest high school charity events of any kind, according to organizers.

As in previous years, the event included local and national bands, DJs, games, raffles, pizzas, and hours and hours of dancing, from noon to midnight.

"The cure is coming," read one of the many colorful signs expressing gratitude to participants, donors and sponsors.

Currently, said organizers, there are 20 promising new drugs that may attack cystic fibrosis from a number of different angles.

It is said that more than 30,000 children and adults in this country suffer from the illness. The median age of survival for a person with this genetic disease is in the early 30s.

The school embraced this campaign after one of its students, Brenda O’Donnell suffered and died from cystic fibrosis in the 1970s.

The first SuperDance was organized in 1976. Since then, O’Connell students know that every March they have a very important day to continue a generous tradition.

School coordinators estimated that between 90 and 95 percent of all students usually attend the SuperDance, in which each hour of dancing is sponsored by new pledges.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm. They really enjoy this way of having fun while helping those who need help, or, in this case, a cure," said Susana Alvarez, a volunteer.

The illness is also known as the "65 Roses." The name originated in the ‘60s, when a desperate mother was making many phone calls to call attention to this disease affecting her 4-year-old son, who understood that his mother was working for "65 Roses."