By Sean McDevitt
FightingIllini.com

Family is at the heart of everything Jeff Tinervin does. It was his family growing up who taught him about giving back, and it was his children who made it easy for him to continue that legacy.

It's a legacy that lives on with the Tinervin Family Foundation. Its mission is to provide food, clothing, and scholarships to underserved families and partner with like-minded organizations and individuals who need help, guidance, and expertise. Since its inception in 2016, the foundation has made a tremendous impact.

And Jeff Tinervin is just getting started.

"I'm going to do it."

Over the past 20 years, the Tinervin family has been involved in many initiatives in the Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana communities. However, it started even earlier.

"My sense of giving came from my grandparents and my Dad at Christmas time. We would take fruit and other stuff out to all the county nursing homes," said Tinervin.

This need to give back was instrumental in creating the foundation. Tinervin asked his children to make their own commitment, "I went to my children and said I'd like to set this foundation up. And if you're willing to do it after I'm gone, I'm going to do it. Now my grandkids are involved too. So, it's something we're passing on. And, you know, it's amazing."

Four years later, the foundation has grown into providing more than just Christmas baskets. One of the leading initiatives is the Mobile Food Program.

In the last couple of years, the foundation has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington/Normal, Wesley United Church, and Woodhill Towers to deliver monthly food distributions. Additionally, Champaign has seen distributions to the Boys and Girls Club and the Carle Healthy Beginnings program.

"In April, we probably gave away fifteen hundred boxes," said Tinervin. "It's a combination of food that we buy, and then Midwest Food Bank gives us some things to put in there, too."

The food boxes include bread, fruits, boxed pasta, canned vegetables and meats, peanut butter, cereal, and more.

With the stay-at-home order in effect, Tinervin has seen an uptick in need, "This is our second delivery to Healthy Beginnings. We usually do it once a month. We also do a pass out at Wesley Church. We've been doing a drive through there. The church does diapers and napkins and wipes and stuff like that and then we give them a box of food. We were doing 200 boxes a couple months ago. We did 300 and some this week and ran out after this month."

"One of my most fun times of the year."

A passion for Tinervin is golf, and he's turned that passion into helping both the Illinois State and the University of Illinois Golf Teams. After playing golf for years with ISU's former golf coach, Harland Kilborn, and a few rounds with Illinois coach Mike Small, Tinervin put together a joint Ryder's Cup style practice tournament in Florida for both programs. The Tinervin Cup has been going on for the last 19 years.

"The idea was two things," said Tinervin. "We wanted them to be able to practice on real turf before they played their first match against all these southern schools who have been playing all winter. And the other thing was we wanted to produce productive members of society. You know, I'm a big proponent of Illinois athletics, but I'm a bigger proponent of student-athletes. I want to win championships.  I want to win national championships. But, I want to graduate kids, too."

After a long day of golf, everyone participates in a large dinner where not only do the coaches speak, but the student-athletes are also answering questions and interacting with the guests.

"We usually have 100 plus people there," said Tinervin. "I get up and talk, the coaches talk, and then we sit down and the student-athletes answer questions from the audience. It's part of becoming a productive member of society, learning to network. We don't let them all sit together at the dinner. We spread them out so they have to sit with successful people in all kinds of different businesses. It's one of my most fun times of the year."

"I couldn't possibly give away what I've been given."

Starting out helping a few organizations has now become a much larger enterprise expanding throughout both the Bloomington and Champaign areas.

"I tell people we're in the wholesale business," Tinervin said. "We have a warehouse full, and we're packing boxes every Tuesday night. I didn't want to find the people to give it to, so we're partnering with organizations. We would rather help people that we think are helping themselves, and we partner with them rather than just funding their budget."

Recently, the foundation has broadened its outreach with a more significant social media presence and a more comprehensive website coming soon. Those wanting to help have plenty of ways to contact the foundation and connect with those organizations in need.

"Volunteers can follow us on Facebook," said Tinervin. "There's also a way to connect with us on our website. So they can get a hold of us, and we can give them fundraising or sponsorship opportunities."

Giving back is at the core of the Tinervin Family Foundation. Whether it's helping others in need or student-athletes embarking on their careers, Tinervin almost sees it as his obligation.

Tinervin said, "You know, I couldn't possibly give away what I've been given. I've been very fortunate to be fairly successful, and so that's what we've decided to do."