If you consistently have extra vacation, sick or personal days from
work that you don't use, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has
provided a way that you can help victims of the Hurricane Katrina
disaster. Instead of letting these days go to waste, you can donate
them to help victims from the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

The Department of the Treasury and IRS have set up a special program
(Under Notice 2005-68) which was initiated to encourage employees to
donate their unused sick or vacation days to help victims of Hurricane
Katrina. Under this special program, employees can donate their
vacation, sick or personal leave days back to their company. Their
employer then takes the value of the time donated and makes a cash
donation to a charity helping out in the relief effort.

To meet the program's requirements, the cash donation must be made to a
qualified tax-exempt organizations providing relief for the victims of
Hurricane Katrina. The employer must also make the cash donation
payment before January 1, 2007. In return, the employees do not have to
count the donated leave as part of their income and employers are
allowed to deduct the amount of the cash payment from their taxes.

If you know that you will not be using all the vacation and/or sick
days that you are entitled to take, contact the personnel office of
your company to see if you can arrange to donate your unused days to
help those struggling to recover. It's an easy way to make a difference
with a minimal amount of effort on your part, especially if you usually
do not use all of your allotted days each year.