Basketball tourney will benefit homeless students at Asheville High School

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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An Asheville High School club has organized a three-on-three basketball tournament that will benefit homeless students at the high school.

Holiday Hoops is set to start at 3:45 p.m. on Dec. 11 at the high school. Julian Pistor, president of the school’s Be The Light Club, says the tournament will help raise money for almost 30 homeless students who need support over the holiday break.

The group has also set up a crowdfunding seeking to raise $,5000. Asheville High School’s Be The Light GoFundMe page is here.

Be The Light was organized after Ari Arteaga, a 16-year-old Florida high school student, died in a car crash this past summer. Arteaga was the son of the University of Miami’s pitching coach, and his family and friends created the organization to honor his legacy. Asheville High School student Andres Fraga, a member of the club, was childhood friends with Ari, according to Pistor.

Asheville High School provides two meals a day on school days for students in need, but during the holiday break, these students don’t have access to those meals, Pistor said. “Our goal is to ensure that our homeless students will have no problem securing meals over the holidays,” Pistor tells me in an email.