Buckets brimming with various coins and notes were emptied and counted at the Bermuda Red Cross yesterday as volunteers took stock of how much has been donated towards the Tsunami Relief Effort.

Buckets were placed at various locations around the Island and volunteers had their hands full counting the first of these to be returned to the Red Cross yesterday.

In just under three weeks the Bermuda Red Cross has raised over half a million dollars.

By 4 p.m. yesterday the total stood at $617,367.59 ? including a $50,000 donation from the Government.

The bucket count alone yielded $4,927.73 and many are yet to be collected.

The MEF Group of restaurants has raised $8,100 to date through various fundraising efforts including $1,700 from buckets and donations of $1,400 from staff.

An exhausted, but thrilled administrator, Helen Wicks, said members of the public continued to call in with ideas for fund raising and it seemed every company, restaurant and even a few ingenious citizens wanted to help. Even schools are getting in on the act.

Students from Saltus Senior School paid to swap their uniforms for casual clothes this week.

They paid $5 a day, or $25 for the week, and all monies collected will be donated to the Red Cross.

Red Cross director Ann Spencer-Arscott said it was a wonderful way for students to contribute towards the donation drive and hoped other schools would also participate.

The school also paid tribute to each of the countries effected by the December 26 earthquake and tsunamis.

During morning form periods, information on each of the affected countries is presented and discussed.

Mount Saint Agnes will be holding a talent competition on Friday in which they will submit artwork and act out skits.

While this annual talent extravaganza has always been free, this year the school decided to charge a $5 entry fee and all the money will be donated to the Red Cross.

They?re also planning a casual clothing day and charging students $2 each to participate.

Bermuda High School plans to hold a ?small-change week? during which students in both Primary and Secondary departments will be encouraged to donate any of the small change they can find at home. This will be counted and rolled at school and will be integrated as part of the Maths activities in some of the Primary classes.

There will also be an in-house sale of plastic bracelets similar to the yellow ones sold to benefit the Lance Armstrong Fund and the pink bracelets sold to raise funds for breast cancer research.

The IB Level students are participating in a sponsored walk.

They aim to walk the distance between Bermuda and Bandung Indonesia, the hometown of one of their Rotary Exchange Students, Kika Richata and this walk was started some time ago.

Bermuda High School Assistant Head of the Secondary Department, Michael DeSilva said they were hoping to contribute the money to a joint-fund being organised by the Round Square Schools.

This is an organisation of international schools which is committed to internationalism, democracy, the environment, adventure, leadership and service.

The Bermuda Institute are raising funds for their own relief agency called ADRA.

They are collecting coins each day in an empty water bottle, organising bake sales and having a Grub day.

Purvis Primary are having a casual dress day on Friday and donations of $2 or more and challenged other schools to participate.

Warwick Academy is still in the process of organising fundraising and will know by next week what they?re going to do, but Somersfield Academy are encouraging students to donate $5 this Friday and a moment of silent respect will be held at the hall during assembly.

All donations will be sent to UNICEF and the Academy plans to adopt a Montessori School in Sri Lanka and will be sending the equivalent of one child?s school fees for the redevelopment of that school for the next five years.

A hope garden will also be designed and grown at Somersfield as a tribute towards the Asian countries affected by the tragedy.

Meanwhile, staff at Masterworks Foundation wanted to help with fundraising efforts, but because they?re a charity, they?re not allowed to raise funds for another charity.

So staff and management decided to each donate one day?s wage towards the Bermuda Red Cross.

?Just imagine if everybody did that,? director Tom Butterfield said.

The Association of Filipinos in Bermuda are hosting a Valentine?s Day Dance on Sunday, February 13 at the Bermuda Dingy Club. All monies raised will be donated to the Red Cross and tickets are on sale for $45 from the Bermuda Red Cross offices.

The Bermuda Restaurant Group will have a fundraiser dinner at Chopsticks on Sunday, January 30. Tickets are $75 per person with a cash bar and as space is limited to 80 people, reservations need to be made at 292-0791. All proceeds will go towards the Bermuda Red Cross.

The Garden Club of Bermuda will be collecting funds from members at their meeting this week and the executive have agreed to match the donations by members while Westmeath Residential & Nursing Home have managed to raise $1,455 for the cause.

Mrs. Spencer-Arscott said many children have also called their offices to say that in lieu of birthday presents this year, they were asking their families to donate money to the Red Cross.

?Children have also donated money from the sale of bottled water at the Farmer?s Market at Bull?s Head on Saturdays and money they?ve collected from yard sales for community service and donating money they?d received for Christmas. The outpouring of generosity form the community has been outstanding,? she said.

She said she?d heard bank tellers say they had bank account numbers pretty much memorised because of the sheer volume of people going into banks to make donations.

The largest cheque to date has been a donation of $50,000 from an anonymous donor.

Meanwhile Silk restaurant on Front Street raises close to $10,000 towards the Red Cross during a special fundraising dinner over the weekend.

An additional $3,500 to $4,000 was raised during a silent auction and this money will be donated to the Bermuda Help Sri Lanka Relief Fund.

Charity organiser Mohamed Rafique said the charity has raised $43,000 to date with various ongoing fundraising events in the pipeline.

He appealed to members of the public to make sure their cheques were made out to the ?Bermuda Help Sri Lanka Relief Fund? as banks would not accept donations made towards their charity in any other name.

?We?ve had calls that people were trying to donated money towards Sri Lanka Fund and some other names, but they have to state Bermuda Help Sri Lanka Relief Fund, or the money will never get to the right charity,? he said.

Spring Garden will be holding a buffet dinner/dance on Friday night to raise money for Mr. Rafique?s organisation. Tickets can be purchased at the restaurant prior to the dinner at $20 a person.

The total number of donations received by the Bermuda Salvation Army was not available at the time of going to Press.

Donations towards the Bermuda Red Cross can be made directly into bank accounts on the Island.

Bank of Bermuda account number: 70121565

Bank of Butterfield: 20006060401365-200

Donations to the Salvation Army can be made online at: www.salvationarmy.ca or www.salvationarmy.org.

And donations to World Vision can be sent to their office in Bermuda at: P.O. Box HM 44, Hamilton, HM AX, stating that the donation is earmarked for South Asia Tsunami Response.

Donations toward the ?Bermuda Help Sri Lanka Relief Fund? can be made directly into:

The Bank of Bermuda, account number: 1501831875 for Bermudian dollars, or 1510831875 for US dollar donations.