The Filipino Community Center and the Bicol Club are teaming to raise donations after Typhoon Durian tore through the Bicol region of the Philippines Thursday, but the groups worry how deeply Hawai'i can give after previous Philippine disasters this year.

Donors, led by Hawai'i's Filipino community, already contributed about $40,000 in response to a devastating landslide that hit the southern part of Leyte island in February, killing more than 1,100 people.

In the past few months, they've given another estimated $40,000 following three super typhoons that preceded Durian, said former state Rep. Felipe "Jun" Abinsay, chairman of the Hawaii International Relief Organization, which may join the Bicol Club and Filipino Community Center in raising money.

"With about 20 typhoons in the Philippines every year," Abinsay said, "this is the problem we have. We'll just have to find a way."

Donors also continue to make contributions to help workers who will lose their jobs when Del Monte Fresh Produce pineapple ceases operations, Abinsay said. Many of the workers came from the Philippines.

Hawai'i's Filipino families have a strong and rich history of regularly sending money — or "remittance" — home and digging even deeper when disasters pummel the Philippines, said Dean Alegado, chairman of the University of Hawai'i's ethnic studies department.

Yesterday, Alegado was setting up an exhibit of Filipino history in Hawai'i in UH's Hamilton Library.

"The community has been really, really generous and that's been historical," he said. "The Philippines is right off the edge of Asia and the ring of fire and gets all of those typhoons and earthquakes. Like everything else, fatigue can begin to set in. But so far, the community has rallied and I'm sure they'll continue to do so."

The latest need for aid comes as families in Hawai'i were already preparing to send money and Christmas packages home. But even with predictions of an economic slowdown in the Islands, Hawai'i's economy remains strong, Alegado said.

Butch Dela Cruz, executive director of the Aloha Medical Mission, just returned from a 10-day trip helping to set up medical clinics on Leyte island in response to the landslide.

"This has been an interesting year," Dela Cruz said. "There's been one calamity after another, but the Filipino community has always been known for generous giving. The Filipino community will help in times of need, despite the situation."

For Noni Panen, president of the Bicol Club, Typhoon Durian was personal.

"That's where we came from," Panen said. "Most of our members were born and raised in that region. That's our heart."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.