The Bermuda Red Cross has raised more than $1 million for Haiti following the devastating earthquake that struck the impoverished nation two months ago. According to the charity's director, Ann Spencer-Arscott, a total of $1,025,938.52 has been contributed by residents and the money is still coming in.

She said the only time the organisation has seen a comparable response in the years she has worked there, was after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

"The 2004 tsunami is the only other disaster that had kept us as busy as this," she said. "But it took over nine months to reach the number of donations that we reached in two months with Haiti."

After working with the Red Cross for 18 years Mrs. Spencer-Arscott says that the capacity of Bermudians to give never ceases to amaze her. "This just says how much Bermudians can empathise, sympathise and feel for those that are less fortunate," she said. "Everyone has gone over and above in their efforts to raise funds.

"The schools have all had some great ideas for their fund-raising activities that they have held. They all work together. This disaster has brought a lot of people together, it transcends all boundaries."

And local businesses have been a big help too, she said. "[Butterfield Bank] were so generous to allow the Red Cross and the Salvation Army to have an ad running on the radio for six weeks to encourage people to donate."

She added: "The largest single donation to date is $76,000. It was given by a business. Most of the money was collected by staff but the company matched the amount and gave some extra just because they felt like it was the right thing to do."

People of all ages have asked that friends and relatives donate to the Red Cross in lieu of birthday presents. According to Mrs. Spencer-Arscott the charity has collected $14,000 this way.

And while in many cases donors like to be recognised for their efforts, this has not been the case with Haiti donations, she added. "We have had so many people donate online. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try to track who has given, because of the sheer volume of donations we are often unable to identify the donor.

"But a lot of people don't want that recognition, they are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. Often when people come in to make a donation they don't even want a receipt that has helped minimise some of the work."

As a result the Red Cross has been extremely busy over the past two months, she said. The charity has even had to call in volunteers to help.

"It has been all hands on deck," said Mrs. Spencer-Arscott. "When a disaster such as this occurs I have six staff, two of whom are part-time. For the first three weeks we did nothing but disaster-related work. "We had to call in a lot of volunteers to assist us as well. On top of the Haiti work we still have to run all of our courses and do all of our other activities to prepare for the rest of the year. There has been a lot extra time put in but that is what we do."