Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong have launched a month-long fundraising campaign to support families affected by the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake in their home country’s south, with organisers saying food, drinking water and medicine are among the most urgent needs.

Representatives from the Abra Tingguian Ilocano Society were collecting donations at various locations, including outside City Hall in Central on Sunday, aiming to raise at least HK$20,000 (US$2,550) for affected communities, particularly in Mindanao and other hard-hit regions.

“Our target now is food, water and medicine,” said the group’s president Ludy Guinaban.

“Many families have lost their homes and are asking for help.”

Dolores Balladares, a spokeswoman for the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, told the South China Morning Post that three of their members’ families were affected by the earthquake at school and at work, with one left traumatised.

Balladares said that while members’ families were generally safe, their community was devastated.