A banner above the band reads "No One Leaves Hungry," during a canned food drive and concert organized by Tara Rasmussen for her senior project. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

Groovin' for good

Benefit concert hauls in canned food items

When the last guitar riff sounded, Tara Rasmussen took a moment to look over the donated goods.

Inside the barrels of donated food, she estimated there were about 100 cans. A full-sized garbage bag was half-filled with boxes of Rice-A-Roni, Top Ramen and other pre-packaged non-perishables.

And in her hand, she held $130 in cash, proceeds from raffle tickets and admission from those who didn't bring food to donate. "It wasn't as much as I hoped for, but any was better than none," Rasmussen said Monday.

The Lodi High student hosted a rock concert at the school over the weekend as part of her senior project. Admission was two canned good or food items to be donated to the Emergency Food Bank in Stockton. The cash will be sent there as well.

The 17-year-old coordinated the charity event through the student government and asked several bands to volunteer their time.

Tara Rasmussen, a senior at Lodi High, watches a concert she organized for her senior project, on Saturday at Lodi High School. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

"A lot of them gave me a shout out before they started playing, so that was cool," Rasmussen said. "The point was to bring people together and do it for a good cause."

On Monday, she was thankful for those who attended, some of whom even stopped by to drop off food and left before the bands started.

Local establishments including Blockbuster, House of Coffees, Umpqua Bank, the Mud Mill and Juice It Up donated items or gift certificates for the raffle Rasmussen organized.

Deciding to create such an event for her high school project was simple, really.

Mike "Noodz" Miller, lead singer of Faking My Death, screams lyrics during a food drive and concert organized by Tara Rasmussen on Saturday at Lodi High School. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

"I figured if I could do something that I'm really interested in, I would not procrastinate about getting it done," Rasmussen said, admitting she's not really the scholarly type.

"Why not do a canned food drive and my paper would be on homelessness? ... and why not do a concert with canned food admission? That way I could help people who needed assistance."

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.