When someone tells you his favorite quote, it usually doesn’t tell you much about how he lives. That’s not the case with Mike Labunski, who quotes Henry David Thoreau: “If you give money, spend yourself with it.” He’s someone who strives to LIVE UNITED in all aspects of his life.

Mike is a Leadership Giver and member of the Young Leaders Society. Since 2007, he has volunteered as part of the Funds Allocation Process. Currently, he serves as a Vice Chair of the Central Allocations Committee and a member of the Funds Allocation Officer Committee.

In his volunteer leadership with United Way, Mike has seen both the need for programs funded by United Way and the transformative impact these programs have on the community. Why is he so committed to making sure your United Way dollars will make the greatest community impact? Mike says that until he first visited a United Way partner agency, “I had presumed to know the challenges of our most disadvantaged populace, but yet was not prepared to comprehend the reality of seeing it firsthand. I have been to the partner agencies that the United Way funds. I have met the people that have been the beneficiaries of the funding. And I can say with absolute resolution that every dollar counts and we need more dollars.”

For Mike, his responsibility to philanthropy does not stop there. He says, “I think you LIVE UNITED when you can transcend mere words and actions and adopt the LIVE UNITED philosophy as a way of life.” That’s why when Mike and his wife Laura recently planned their daughter Maddie’s first birthday party, they encouraged people to make a Tribute Gift to the United Way rather than bring a traditional gift, in recognition of the thousands of children throughout our community who are at risk and need organizations like United Way to provide for essential resources.

Clearly, Mike is passing on a tradition of charity that was part of his upbringing. “I have never questioned the need for charity, nor the need for my active participation in charity. This has always been a constant in my life.”

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas sincerely thanks Mike for his commitment to LIVE UNITED by Giving, Advocating and Volunteering in our community.