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UVM FeelGood club brought local bands and performers together at Higher Ground April 13 for its fifth annual “Jammin’ 4 Hunger” benefit concert.

Many UVM students know the FeelGood club through their grilled cheese stand in the Davis Center. 

Though the familiar smell of gourmet grilled cheese was not present at Higher Ground, music and dance performances from acts like DJ TwoSev, the Bumping Jones and the Catamount Dance Crew energized a crowd of students from 7:30 p.m. until 2 in the morning.

“James Wolcott Billman, who heads FeelGood, is really into music,” first-year and FeelGood member Abby Holden said. “He got local bands involved from around Vermont and the greater New England area.”

All donations from the event, like the proceeds from each grilled cheese, will go toward the Hunger Project. FeelGood T-shirts were also sold alongside a table of crafty goods from Growing Vermont.

According to first-year Ali White, the Hunger Project’s mission statement is different than that of most nonprofits focused on poverty.

“[The Hunger Project] is all about partnerships, not charity … grassroots organizations to help communities become self-sufficient and end hunger sustainably themselves,” she said.

The nonprofit organization works in developing countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa.

DJ TwoSev opened the event with an eclectic array of mixes that caught the attention of dance crew members and students alike.

“It was nice to hear something other than dubstep for a change,” saxophonist Reuben Jalbert of the Bumping Jones said.

Dressed in sweatpants and flannels, the Catamount Dance Crew broke it down to Missy Elliot and other mixes.

Next, student-run dance group Orchesis took over the floor for a lyrical interpretation of Adele and Rihanna. 

Mission South from Washington, D.C. joined the stage, as did Dr. Ruckus and Moses & the Electric Company.  

The Bumping Jones covered the Rolling Stones and played funky original songs that got the crowd moving.

“I think we really bring something new to the music scene,” Jalbert said.  “Especially with the horn section. It just makes it that much more cool that we get to be a part of this benefit.”

Support the Hunger Project by stopping by the FeelGood stand on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Davis Center.