Some may know him as Tarence or TK, but to many youth in the Bay area, he is becoming known as their Hometown Hero. When we hear about professional basketball players in the news, we usually hear about how they’re shaping up on the court or what they recently did wrong off the court. It’s not often that we hear about the positive impact professional players are striving to make in their fans’ lives.

Tarence Kinsey, a 29-year-old veteran of six professional basketball seasons in the NBA and overseas is a positive example of a professional athlete that carries strong influence to children whose futures he is shaping.

A 2002 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, the Tampa native created the Tarence Kinsey Foundation in 2009. It was a longtime aspiration for the 6-foot-6 shooting guard/small forward, who helped lead the University of South Carolina to back-to-back NIT championships.

Kinsey has spent time with Memphis and Cleveland in the NBA, and his basketball career has taken him around the globe, playing professionally in Turkey, Italy, and Spain, the latter where he was a member of Unicaja Málaga of the Liga ACB this season.

Over the last year, the TK Foundation ( www.tarencekinseyfoundation.org) has contributed to assisting three students receive full college scholarships by supplying them with mentors, tutors and educational guidance. In addition to Tarence’s foundation, he recently made a significant financial contribution to Mt. Pleasant Middle School in Tampa to help provide more text books and computers for the school.

The idea for his foundation was sparked when he walked through a local mall with his mother one evening.

“We saw groups of teenage kids with their pants hanging down low and we noticed how they wore grimaces on their faces and showed no respect and no manners,” Kinsey recalled. “I was raised to say ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘No, ma’am.’ And show common courtesy like saying please and thank you, and opening doors.

“Essentially, you as a person are like your own business. It is important to represent yourself in respectful ways and make your world a better place by how you live, how you act and how you treat others and yourself,” Kinsey added.

Kinsey is back in the Tampa area this summer and preparing for his foundation’s annual celebration dinner on Saturday, July 13 at the Embassy Suites in downtown Tampa. The event is scheduled for 6 p. m. to 10 p. m. All proceeds will benefit the foundation’s programs.

At this year’s dinner, the foundation’s “Circle Me” mentorship program will be showcased, and students will be recognized.

Kinsey is also coordinating a summer training camp for teenagers, and the dates will be released soon.