By Stephenie Steitzer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

VILLA HILLS - The Villa Hills Civic Club was transformed Saturday night from a quiet community watering hole to a benefit bash for a 17-year-old who needs a lung transplant.

Dixie Heights High School senior Andrea Hall learned in February that she has pulmonary fibrosis, a life-threatening disease found mostly in adults. It results in scarring of the lungs, which can build up to the point where they cannot provide enough oxygen.

About 50 family, friends and community members gathered at the civic club to raise money for the transplant through a silent auction and raffle. Nearly 70 Greater Cincinnati businesses donated items from a one-night stay at the Argosy Casino to a baseball plate signed by Adam Dunn.

Family friend Laurie Valentine said she and her mother, Terry Soden, organized the event.

"Anything you can do to help somebody, it's worth it," Valentine said.

Hall, whose condition has remained the same since she was diagnosed in February, was in good spirits Saturday night. She buried her face in embarrassment when her mother, Rhoda Gross, 39, danced wildly to an Outkast song.

"She is crazy," Hall said of her mother.

In August, Hall began undergoing an extensive series of tests in Louisville to determine if her body would accept a lung.

Pulmonary fibrosis has no cure and a lung transplant is the only effective treatment.

Gross said they expect to know in December if Hall will be put on the transplant list. She said her doctors are trying to hold off on putting Hall on the list so she can finish her senior year.

Valentine said she did not know how much money she expected to raise Saturday night.

Dixie Heights High School students and faculty recently raised $1,400 for her transplant.