It has been almost a month since the devastating earthquake and tsunamis hit South Asia and despite fears that donations towards the relief effort would die down, generous Bermudians have continued to donate money to local charities.

The Bermuda/Canadian Territory Salvation Army has raised $3.85 million collectively towards relief efforts.

Commander of the Bermuda division of the Salvation Army, Major Lindsay Rowe said some of the money would go towards the building of homes on land allocated to the Salvation Army by the Sri Lankan Government.

The two sites, totalling 344 acres, lie near the village of Galgodawatte in the Galle district, where 53,000 people were left homeless by the tsunamis.

Major Rowe said over the next two weeks, the Salvation Army will be moving the homeless families who are currently living in crowded schools, into hundreds of tents erected on this land.

Detailed plans, he said, are underway for the development of some 1,000 permanent homes, built at a cost of about $5,000 each. He said this would be the largest project undertaken by the Salvation Army.

Meanwhile the MarketPlace presented the Bermuda Help Sri Lanka Fund with a cheque for $5,000 this week. Staff from stores across the Island raised $1,900 during a denim day, as well as an additional $600 in donations from customers.

The company matched all the contributions.

Shortly after the devastating tsunami, MarketPlace donated $20,000 towards the charity, bringing the new total raised by local lawyer, Bala Nadarajah and his team to $50,000.

Organiser, Mohamed Rafique said donations continued to pour in and many pledges had been made by local companies.

But he appealed to donors to make sure they gave their names to tellers at the bank if they wanted their details mentioned on their website.

The Bermuda Red Cross has also had a very busy week after the Bermuda Government yesterday doubled its contribution to the charity by donating $100,000 bringing the total to $989,011.74.

Volunteers and staff are hoping to reach their $1 million mark before the end of January.

One of the latest donations comes from pupils at Clearwater Middle School who raised $1,000 and donated $800 to the Bermuda Red Cross and $200 to the Foggo family from St. David?s. The Foggo family of six lost their home and all their possessions in a fire over the New Year.