TAUW LEGENDS: Caron Lawhorn
The TAUW Legends video series preserves the voices and stories of those who shaped our first century of service. As part of our Centennial celebration, Jesse Boudiette, president of Propeller Consulting and Centennial Committee member, sat down with Caron Lawhorn, who chaired the 2020 annual fundraiser.
Join us in continuing Caron’s legacy of compassion and community impact. Your gift today in honor of Caron helps write the next chapter of our story, ensuring that future generations will have access to the same life-changing services that have touched so many lives over the past century.
interview highlights
Jesse Boudiette: Caron, how did you first get involved with the Tulsa Area United Way?
Caron Lawhorn: Well, I’m dating myself a bit, but back in the mid to late ’80s, I worked for the accounting firm now known as KPMG, and we had an employee campaign, which I volunteered to help with. I remember we toured three partner agencies. I don’t remember two of them, but one of them was an adult daycare program that’s gone away years ago. I also took a video camera—you know, back in the day—and filmed some of what we saw. Then my husband helped me put it together, which, again, technology being what it was, was not easy and it wasn’t very professional, but I put together the video and we showed it at our employee meeting for the office. So that was a lot of fun. That’s what started it for me, and my husband and I have been financial supporters ever since. I started getting involved personally probably 15 years ago, working on committees and campaigns, Women United, and then ultimately chairing the campaign.
Jesse: You chaired during 2020, the year of COVID. Tell me about that year—what a tough year.
Caron: It was really, really challenging. First of all, one of the great things about the campaign itself is it’s fun. We get to get out; they ask the campaign chairs to go visit every partner agency. That’s enlightening and a lot of fun. There are a lot of meetings and just a chance to get to know a lot of different people. And I didn’t get to do that because everything we did was 100% remote. On the other hand, it was super rewarding to see how the partner agencies responded, how they were able to continue providing services during the pandemic, how the United Way organization adapted, and how we helped companies adapt to continue to run campaigns. Granted, we had a scaled-back goal for that year because the community had already come up with a lot of funds for relief prior to or outside of the campaign, but we scaled back the campaign just a bit relative to the previous year, and we made the goal. Everyone realized that there’s still a need. We may be stuck at home, looking at people on monitors, but there were still people out there with need, so that was super rewarding.