(U-WIRE) GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida students banded together for warmth Saturday evening as a free concert turned cold.

Temperatures hovering in the 30s and 40s left about 100 students huddling for heat on the Reitz Union North Lawn at the second "Rock the Cause" AIDS Benefit Concert, sponsored by UF's Florida Association of Professional Health Educators.

Erin Saunders, the club's public relations chairwoman, said she went inside three times to get warm during the four-hour event.

"I have two pairs of pants on, two pairs of socks, a jacket, gloves and whatever you call this thing —a headband," she said. "And I'm jumping around."

Saturday's temperatures were drastically lower than the Dec. 6 average, according to www.weather.com, which reported a low of 36 degrees and a high of 53 degrees.

The average low temperature for the date is 46 degrees, and the average high is 70 degrees.

"It's so freezing outside," said club president Katie Sweeney, whose heavy jacket and jeans were accented with a matching hat, scarf and gloves.

Attendees were offered free HIV testing, and organizers passed out free flavored condoms as students displayed about 20 AIDS-information boards they made for a Department of Health and Human Performance class.

The benefit also featured a candlelight vigil for disease victims, guest speakers from the community and a scantily-clad belly-dancing troupe.

Although the event was free, proceeds were raised through $2 raffle tickets for a 30- to 40-prize giveaway, Saunders said.

The SG-sponsored club also held bake sales to raise revenue, Sweeney said, and the event was funded in part by the Reitz Union Board.

All raffle prizes were donated by local businesses, and Gainesville bands LP and One Day Old performed for free.

"It's disturbingly cold out here, but totally worth it," said tobogganed One Day Old lead singer and guitarist Jon Aleman, who added that he couldn't feel his hands while he was playing. "We do things like this as often as we can — anything for a good cause."

Sweeney shared his sentiment.

"I was really happy and impressed with the people who came out to support us," she said, but "I wish it was warmer."

Senior Oswald Alphonse, wearing a heavy coat and an improvised turtleneck he made out of a red bandanna, added that he would have liked to have seen more students at the event.

"We hope that next year they'll come out and support it," he said. "It's a good cause."

The organization plans to hold an awareness event, "Sex in the Swamp," in the spring, which Sweeney said will be "much warmer."

— Emily Seawell