I, like so many of us, deeply regret the loss of life that the earthquake in Haiti took on January 12th of this year. The 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti's capital, Port-Au-Prince, hardest and caused massive devastation with an estimated loss of life climbing to over 200,000.

Many countries and individuals are rushing to provide aid, and the American public is no exception to being the largest contributors of help. This help has been and will be in many forms, including cash, equivalent of cash, property, and prayers. For Americans wanting to make cash or cash equivalent contributions, the Internal Revenue Service has issued guidelines which are not consistent with non-exigent donations as well as the I.R.S. guidelines for the China earthquake victims in Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008 and the December 26, 2004, a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred under the Indian Ocean just off the coast of Indonesia killing over 227,000 people.