TAUW LEGENDS: chet Cadieux
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 Chet Cadieux, who is our Centennial Honorary Chair and CEO of QuikTrip. Chet chaired the 2012 TAUW annual fundraiser.
Join us in continuing Chet’s legacy of compassion and community impact. Your gift today in honor of Chet 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: Chet, go back to the beginning. How did you first get involved with the Tulsa Area United Way?
Chet Cadieux: From coworkers being involved—people that I worked with in the stores, riding around and saying, “Oh, you gotta do this, you gotta, you know, look at the good we’re doing,” and that sort of thing. For us, I don’t know if the campaign is as important as understanding what the money is going to and understanding that United Way does such a phenomenal job of vetting who really needs help, what agencies are doing the best job fulfilling that need. And so, I think the best part for our team is knowing that we’ve done some good because whenever we turn over that money to the Tulsa Area United Way, we know it’s going to go where it needs to go to have the maximum impact, and that’s rewarding unto itself.
Jesse: You mentioned having team members serve on the United Way campaign or the board, or maybe some of their partner agencies. What do you think that experience does for those individuals?
Chet: My point of view is that whenever you participate on a volunteering basis, that’s much more impactful and creates a lot more empathy for the problems involved than just giving money. Just go and participate in Day of Caring. Go down to one of these agencies, and instead of just sending a check, go down and look into the eyes of the people who are in need. And I challenge you to come back and tell me we don’t need to do better. And so, yeah, the board stuff, that’s great, but that’s just making sure we’re good stewards of the money and participating as we should. I think that, frankly, all the other volunteering stuff is probably more important.
Jesse: You’ve been volunteering with United Way for a long time, so you know what’s at stake with the annual campaign. When you’re asked to chair it, what’s that feeling like?
Chet: You feel the burden, the sense of responsibility that if we aren’t successful, there’s a lot of people who need help who aren’t going to get that help. And that’s the stressful part, but the rewards associated with it—I mean, who gets to do that in their life, right? Who gets to go and put together a dream team of other people from across the city who care and are inspired with the same sense of responsibility, and you go and spend a year with those people, and you get it done. I mean, in a world of—in a life of memories, that’s a pretty powerful one.