People laced up their sneakers to raise scholarship money for high school and future medical students in Nashville.
On Saturday, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament called "Ballin' For Books" was held at Ross Gym at Meharry Medical College.
Organizers with "Project Dream Community Initiative" had a goal to raise $2,000 in college scholarships for Pearl Cohn High School students who belong to a mentoring program.
Students in the program can apply for the higher education scholarships.
Project Dream co-founder and CEO Gerald Onuoha said the tournament was also a way for high school and medical students to interact with each other.
"Students who don't normally see physicians and dentists and scientists see them in our regular form. Playing basketball, just hanging out. Getting to know each other and things like that. So it's a great event," he said.
Onuoha said the Project Dream program started about seven years ago after a few Meharry students decided to give back to the community.
"I was a high school dropout...but I'm living my dream," he said.
Onuoha was able to refocus and graduate from Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College. He is currently a resident at Meharry in the Internal Medicine Program.
The Project Dream Community Initiative is a student-based organization whose goal is to motivate and inspire students to pursue careers as healthcare professionals.
