With the recent news coming from Puerto Rico and the ongoing crisis that both Texans and Floridians are still facing, many of us are asking how can we help.

Here are two ways your company can participate with the disaster relief desperately needed by literally millions of fellow Americans:

Recently, the IRS announced that cash payments made by employers under a leave based donation program would not constitute as employee wages if they are paid by January 1st, 2019 to Section 170(c) organizations for the relief of Hurricane Irma, with a similar provision for Hurricane Harvey as well. Basically, if your employees wish to donate their unused vacation time to be a monetized donation, they can do so without the donated amount being considered income and employers can deduct the payments as ordinary and necessary business expenses under IRC Sec. 162 (rather than IRC Sec. 170).

To view the notice, click here: IRS Notice. As always with these types of donations, please sure to seek advice from your tax advisor to ensure proper deduction procedures and filings.

Red Cross offers group fund raising so your organization could establish, as an entity, a donation group. Companies are getting creative with challenges to their respective team members; i.e., matching donations between employer and employee, opportunity to participate in internal lotteries if a certain dollar amount is donated, etc. To learn more about Red Cross donations, click here: Red Cross.

The Salvation Army has a page dedicated to Hurricane Relief that includes both monetary and non-monetary donations. Several civic groups have organized household goods, baby supply and non-perishable food drives to drop off at their local Salvation Army center. Companies can easily organize these types of internal drives with a reward and recognition component for those who spearhead and volunteer to participate. To learn more about these types of donation drives, click here: Salvation Army.

Together, the parking industry can make a marked difference in the lives of those who are suffering as a result of these hurricanes.