Some 900 people at a sold-out dinner last night helped raise more than $100,000 to send 11 Hansen's disease patients in Kalaupapa to Rome for the canonization of Father Damien, while also mourning others who championed the Sacred Hearts priest's cause but died before seeing him elevated to sainthood.

"A lot of patients are gone who would have loved to see it," said patient Barbara Marks.

The 78-year-old Marks was sent to Kalaupapa in 1947 after contracting Hansen's disease, and said yesterday that she still can't believe that she's headed to Rome. "I want so badly to go," she said.

The patients and their caregivers also will take part in Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva's pilgrimage to Belgium, Damien's birthplace, before heading to Rome for the Oct. 11 canonization.

Some of the proceeds from last night's event went to a scholarship endowment for Native Hawaiian students and for activities in the Islands to celebrate Damien's canonization.

The gathering at the Sheraton Waikiki filled the Hawaii Ballroom, where tables were set up from one end of the hall to the other. Robert Cazimero and Glenn Medeiros provided entertainment during the dinner, which was followed by a video presentation on Damien's life, more music and a live auction.

Organizers were surprised at the massive interest the event generated. They originally had planned for a low-key affair for about 300 people, thinking that the economic downturn would hurt ticket sales. But tickets sold fast and organizers kept adding tables up until last week. About 100 people had to be turned away.

Attorney Paul Cunney, who helped organize the event, said the turnout shows how inspired residents are by Damien's story and touched by the lives of the 19 remaining Kalaupapa patients.

"If anybody should be front and center in Rome," Cunney said, "it would be the residents of Kalaupapa."

Silva, who will be traveling to Rome and Belgium with the patients and 500 others, added that he is heartened — though not surprised — by the outpouring of support.

"It's beautiful," he said.

BITTERSWEET MOMENT

The Rev. Damien de Veuster, who ministered to Hansen's disease patients in Kalaupapa and helped create a community to give them a source of pride, will be elevated to sainthood Oct. 11 in Rome. The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts priest served on Moloka'i for 16 years before dying from Hansen's disease in 1889. He was 49 when he died.

Hawai'i's quarantine restrictions on Hansen's disease patients weren't lifted until 1969.

Kalaupapa patient Gloria Marks, 71, said the canonization will be a bittersweet occasion. So many who waited years to see Damien become a saint, including her husband, Richard, won't be there to see it.

"I'm sad for all of them who are gone," said Marks, whose husband died in December and was a well-known patient advocate and successful businessman. Two other well-known patients also have died recently: Bernard Punikai'a and Ku'ulei Bell were well-known Kalaupapa advocates who died in February.

Many of those who attended the event last night remembered the three, along with the more than 8,000 others who died in Kalaupapa since its founding as a Hansen's disease settlement in 1865. Dr. Peter Donnelly, who goes to Kalaupapa about twice a month to treat patients, said many in the settlement are still mourning the recent deaths of their friends. But he said yesterday's event was partly about remembering those who have been lost. Of Richard Marks, he said, "I think he's here."

Donnelly added that the story of Kalaupapa is one that will live on even after the last patients are gone.

"This is just one of those stories ... that gives you faith that there are good people in the world," he said.

For some, the dinner was something of a kick-off to celebrations around the canonization.

Dr. Kalani Brady, who has visited Kalaupapa patients weekly to treat them for six years, said the gathering is a chance to honor the patients. It also has generated a lot of excitement among the patients.

"The whole thing is magic for them," he said.

Audrey Toguchi, whose cancer disappeared a decade ago in what was deemed the second miracle attributed to Damien, assuring his canonization, also attended the gathering. She said Damien, now more than ever, is someone who can give people strength as they struggle with difficulties in their lives.

"He represents hope," she said.