UF senior Kendra Levine is trying to make sure hunger in Gainesville is stuffed for good.
The food and resource economics senior is president of the Campus Kitchens Task Force, an organization that collects leftover food from local restaurants' kitchens and packages it into individual meals to be sent to social service agencies and served to local low-income groups.
The organization will be holding a battle of the bands fundraiser Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Atlantic nightclub that will feature five bands.
"All of the bands are fantastic, and the money that is made aids Campus Kitchens in its mission of community hunger relief and directly benefits many in need," Levine said.
She said she hopes to raise $1,200, which will go toward buying kitchen supplies, to-go containers, nutrition education materials and extra food.
The organization operates out of the kitchen at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School but hopes to ultimately work from UF's Racquet Club Dining Center or Shands at UF.
Campus Kitchens is a national project that is currently underway at one high school and 11 colleges across the country.
Levine began the initiative to bring the charity to UF's campus after interning at the organization's national office, she said.
Shail Ramcharan, program manager for Partners for a Productive Community, which provides social services to at-risk communities, teamed up with Campus Kitchens in 2007.
Ramcharan said some residents might not be eating the adequate number of meals per day if it was not for the help of Campus Kitchens.
Pamela McMahon, food science and human nutrition professor and adviser for the organization, said she wanted to be involved with the cause because she teaches nutrition classes and is aware of local hunger issues.
"At the UF level, the Campus Kitchens leadership team has identified food donors, secured a kitchen to prepare the food and is delivering to families in need," McMahon said.
