Local Filipino community aids typhoon victims

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Residents wait to be evacuated at the airport in Tacloban, Philippines, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan. (Odd Andersen / AFPGetty Images)

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Workers load bodies into a long trench for burial in Tacloban, Philippines. (Kevin Frayer / Getty Images)

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People wait to board flights at Tacloban airport in the Philippines, where thousands have been left homeless by Typhoon Haiyan. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)

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Typhoon survivors wash appliances outside their damaged home in Tacloban, Philippines. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press )

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A Tacloban resident sits amid the remains of typhoon-wrecked homes. (Kevin Frayer / Getty Images)

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U.S. Marines arrive in Osprey aircraft to deliver aid at Tacloban airport in response to Typhoon Haiyan. (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)

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A woman carrying a child cries as other survivors of Typhoon Haiyan wait to board a C130 aircraft during the evacuation of hundreds of survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Philippines. (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

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Stranded American missionaries are evacuated by the U.S. military in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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A survivor from Tacloban, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, sits on the ground after disembarking a Philippine air force C-130 aircraft at the Villamor Airbase in Manila. (Vincent Yu / Associated Press)

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Typhoon Haiyan survivors hang signs from their necks as they queue up in the hopes of boarding a C-130 military transport plane in Tacloban, central Philippines. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

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A woman holding a child is surrounded by debris in an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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Survivors wait in line to receive relief goods in an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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Two people ride bikes through an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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Survivors walk in typhoon-ravaged Tacloban city in central Philippines. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

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People walk among debris next to a ship washed ashore in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan at Anibong in Tacloban, the eastern island of Leyte on Monday. Hundreds of Philippine soldiers and police poured into a city devastated by Typhoon Haiyan to try to contain looting that threatens an emergency relief effort. (Noel Celis / AFP/Getty Images)

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Survivors move past the damages caused by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Leyte province, central Philippines on Monday. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

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Survivors look up at a military C-130 plane as it arrives at typhoon-ravaged Tacloban city, Leyte province in central Philippines on Monday. Stunned survivors of one of the most powerful typhoons ever to make landfall picked through the remains of their homes Monday and pleaded for food and medicine as the Philippines struggled to deal with what is likely its deadliest natural disaster. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

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Residents queue up to receive treatment and relief supplies at Tacloban airport Monday following Friday’s Typhoon Haiyan that lashed this city and several provinces in central Philippines. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

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An aerial image taken Monday from a Philippine air force helicopter shows the devastation of the first landfall by Typhoon Haiyan in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines. Authorities said at least 2 million people in 41 provinces had been affected by Friday’s Typhoon Haiyan and at least 23,000 houses had been damaged or destroyed. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

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This image taken by astronaut Karen L. Nyberg and released by NASA shows Typhoon Haiyan from the International Space Station on Saturday. More than 600,000 people were evacuated as Haiyan bore down on Vietnam, authorities said on Sunday, after the storm smashed through the Philippines on Friday leaving thousands feared dead and widespread devastation. (Karen L. Nyberg / AFP/Getty Images)

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Trees and telephone polls were upended by the storm. (Tara Yap, AFP/Getty Images)

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A Filipino boy stands among the debris of the super typhoon-devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province. Philippine troops begin to retrieve bodies strewn in areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, which was feared to have killed more than 100 people. The most powerful cyclone in three decades battered the Philippines, killing a number of people and displacing over 718,000, disaster relief officials said. (FRANCIS R. MALASIG / EPA)

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Residents return to their houses after leaving an evacuation site in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Phillipines. (NOEL CELIS, / AFPGetty Images)

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Bureau of Fire Protection volunteers in Manila pack relief goods bound for areas of the southern Philippines hit hard by powerful Typhoon Haiyan. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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A resident walks past high waves pounding the sea wall amid strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan hit the city of Legaspi. (Charism Sayat / AFP/Getty Images)

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A mother and her children brave heavy rains as they head for an evacuation center amid strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan pounded Cebu City. ( AFP/Getty Images)

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A three-wheeled motorcycle maneuvers in floodwaters in Taguig city. The most powerful typhoon in three decades battered the Philippines, killing at least four people and displacing more than 718,000. (Francis R. Malasig / EPA)

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A house is engulfed by the storm surge brought about by powerful Typhoon Haiyan that hit Legazpi city. (Nelson Salting / Associated Press)

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Debris litter the road by the coastal village in Legazpi city following a storm surge brought about by powerful Typhoon Haiyan. (Nelson Salting / Associated Press)

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A resident runs past an uprooted tree amidst strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan pounded Cebu City in central Philippines. (AFP/Getty Images)

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An Indigenous Filipino Badjao tries to secures a wooden boat during a heavy downpour brought by Typhoon Haiyan in Cebu province. (JAY ROMMEL LABRA / EPA)

By Amina Khan

Nov. 9, 2013 4:34 PM PT

Filipino community members in Southern California are mobilizing relief efforts to send supplies and aid to areas in the Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.

With a population of more than 330,000, Los Angeles has the largest Filipino diaspora in the U.S. Given that the island nation in Southeast Asia remains constantly vulnerable to fierce storms like Haiyan, regular or annual fundraising efforts will often allocate some of the proceeds for potential disasters as they occur, said Hellen Barber De La Vega, consul general for the Philippines in Los Angeles.

“I did see an overwhelming expression of support from our community at least here in Southern California,” De La Vega said. “In the last two days, with the images of what’s happening in the Philippines, we have already received so many queries.”

The central Philippines has been suffering from a “one-two punch” delivered by Typhoon Haiyan as well as a 7.1 earthquake that rocked the region last month, said her husband, Jovena “Bing” De La Vega, who has been organizing a 5K walk for Sunday at 6 a.m. in Van Nuys.

The walk is being organized by a nonprofit Bing De La Vega co-founded, the Philippine Disaster Relief Organization (called PeDRO for short) and the ROMAH Foundation. Earlier, the walk was intended to help victims of the earthquake, but will now probably aid victims of the typhoon as well, he said.

“We don’t know how much damage this storm has done to the country,” Bing De La Vega said.

The walk will be held at 6335 Woodley Ave. in Van Nuys.

Some are boarding commercial flights loaded with supplies, Bing De La Vega said. Philippine Airlines, which offers direct flights from L.A. to the Philippines, has been asked to waive fees for travelers bringing boxes of relief supplies, he said.

Many individuals directly send money back to friends and loved ones, Hellen De La Vega said. Others are organizing through their church organizations.

The Philippine Consulate has also named organizations through which donors can aid victims of Typhoon Haiyan. Among them: National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in the Philippines, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Philippine Red Cross.

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