Filipinos in San Diego, California made use of the annual Filipino American Arts and Culture Festival to raise funds and aid for flood victims in the Philippines.

Patricia Guevarra was among those whose family in the Philippines were affected by the 2 destructive weather disturbances which hit the Philippines.

"The Philippines was hit pretty hard. 80% of Manila is underwater. Also my own family was affected in the Philippines so we really feel this need to give back to the Philippines to make sure they're okay," Guevarra said.

Guevarra and others from the Kuya Ate Mentor Program organized a collection drive at the 5th  annual Fil-Am Festival in San Diego.

“Were also sending it to this company based in San Diego called Atlas Shipping company. They're offered to ship relief goods for free," Guevarra said.

COPAO or Coalition of Philippine American Organizations meanwhile teamed up with Gawad Kalinga San Diego chapter to gather monetary donations to help flood victims.

"We have blessings here in San Diego which the Filipinos that are affected by this typhoon, they don't have those blessings, and if we can share a little bit of the blessings. Maybe this pictures will help get them to realize the impact of the typhoon," said Fred Gallardo, COPAO Executive Vice President.

Gallardo constructed a board full of powerful images of the destruction in the Philippines. This brought home the overwhelming sense of loss.

"Everybody was affected, rich and poor. Even the animals, for example, we don't have a count of how many cats, dogs and so on perished in the flood," said Gallardo.

Edward Aparis of the planning committee said he appreciated that so many people were able to step up to contribute to the relief efforts.

"It's good to see that there's a common goal, to try to alleviate the sorrow, to try to raise awareness and donations from the community," Aparis said.